Camp Morton, 1861-1865, Indianapolis prison camp

"L I E> RAHY

OF THE
UNIVERSITY
OF ILLINOIS

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ILL. K!ST. SUiiVEY

Digitized by the Internet Archive

in 2012 with funding from

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

http://archive.org/details/campmorton186118133wins

INDIANA

HISTORICAL SOCIETY

PUBLICATIONS

VOLUME 13

NUMBER 3

CAMP MORTON 1861-1865

INDIANAPOLIS PRISON CAMP

By
HATTIE LOU WINSLOW

and

JOSEPH R. H. MOORE

INDIANAPOLIS

INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

1940

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors must express their thanks to Dr. Coleman,
to Miss Armstrong, to their coadjutors at the Historical
Bureau and State Library, and to the many friends who have
by their suggestions increased the human interest of this small
part of the story of the War between the States. During a
work covering some years, it is very evident that such credit
as may accrue is due to a great many people, so many that
were it not for the "friendliness of the folk" such a work could
not come even to moderate completion.

(229)

FOREWORD

At the Indiana History Conference in December, 1932,
Joseph R. H. Moore, head of the social studies depart-
ment of Emmerich Manual Training High School, Indianap-
olis, read a paper upon the Civil War prisoners' depot at Camp
Morton, in which he had long been interested. He generously
agreed to extend his study as he had time and opportunity,
and present it to the Indiana Historical Society for publication.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Hattie Lou Winslow, of the social studies
department of Shortridge High School, Indianapolis, also
became interested in Camp Morton and prepared a history of it
in connection with her work at Butler University. Mr. Moore
and Mrs. Winslow thereafter combined their materials for
this publication.

The many purposes served by Camp Morton — recruiting
camp, prison for Confederate soldiers, and place of detention
for Union soldiers on parole — entitle it to a place in Civil War
annals. At various times there has been controversy over the
treatment and condition of the prisoners kept at Camp Morton.
The authors have attempted to give a fair and objective treat-
ment of the subject, and to provide an honest picture of the life
of the camp.

Christopher B. Coleman

Secretary Indiana Historical Society

(231)

CONTENTS

Page

I. Training Camp, 1861 237

II. Prisoners' Camp under Richard Owen, 1862. . 251

III. David Garland Rose : Exchanges and Paroles,

1862 286

IV. Emergency Hospitals, 1862 305

V. Camp Morton in Decline, 1863 314

VI. Reorganization under Colonel Stevens,

1863-64 333

VII. The Last Year, 1864-65 353

Appendix

I. Abstract of Monthly Returns from Camp

Morton 379

II. Deaths from Certain Diseases and Classes of
Diseases at Camp Morton, June 1863-
June 1865 380

III. Ration Reductions, 1864-65 381

IV. Abstract of Subsistence Stores issued to

Rebel Prisoners at Camp Morton, 1864. 382

(233)

ILLUSTRATIONS

Page

Bust of Colonel Richard Owen 262

Plan of Camp Morton, 1862 277

Colonel Ambrose A. Stevens 336

Camp Morton, 1864 342

Plan of Camp Morton, 1865 359

Camp Morton, 1864 366

(235)

I. TRAINING CAMP, 1861

During the 1850's every good citizen of Indianapolis knew
very well the tract of land now circumscribed by Nine-
teenth Street, Talbott Avenue, Twenty-second Street, and
Central Avenue. It contained approximately thirty-six acres
and belonged to Samuel Henderson. One hundred years ago
the city had begun pushing slowly out along East Washington
Street. The south side was already well settled — with some
fine dwellings — but the north side was just beginning to branch
out as a social entity. A few houses were to be found north of
Washington Street; further north were farms and orchards,
and away out in the country was the Asylum for the Blind.
There were no houses on Illinois Street north of Ninth Street,
and east of Illinois there were no more thoroughfares until a
winding country road was reached, the predecessor of our
present Central Avenue. For four blocks south of Nineteenth
Street there was not even a farmhouse, nothing but fields and
an occasional orchard.

The Honorable Samuel Henderson — he became the first
mayor of Indianapolis in 184(5 — owned a large farm in this
region, and the thirty-six acres formed the crown of the farm,
both by reason of its height and because it was the most beauti-
ful part of his property. It was partially wooded with
scattered hardwoods, mostly black walnut and oak, with fine
greensward between the groves. There were at least four
good springs on the area, and since Mr. Henderson was known
to be friendly to everyone, it became the favorite place for
"twosomes," for family picnics, and, when the Methodists felt
the need, it was the logical place for a camp meeting.

On Illinois Street, Twenty-second Street marked the north-
ern limit of civilization. Beyond was a wilderness, perhaps
because in that area a tract of low, soft ground through which
ran a "bayou" put a stop to traffic. Northeast of the city,
about three miles from "the Governor's Circle" was "the
swamp," drained by two more bayous. One of these became
Pogue's Run as it went south and southwest ; the other, running

(237)

238 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

somewhat south of west, cut across the eastern end of Hender-
son's Grove, flowed west about the northerly line of Nine-
teenth Street until it passed a little west of Alabama Street,
then northwesterly to Twenty-second Street, where it turned
west again before emptying into Fall Creek.

This creek was usually dry in the summer, but at the time
of the spring rains it became a turbulent stream, overflowing
its banks and doing damage all out of proportion to its size.
During the legislative session of 1837, commissioners were
appointed to study the situation and to construct a ditch large
and deep enough to accommodate the water of this small
stream.1 The work consisted mainly of straightening and
deepening the existing bed to allow better flowage and thus
do away with the occasional stagnant places which in summer
became evil-smelling mudholes and breeding places for the
mosquito. This improvement was called the "State Ditch,"
and later, by the prisoners of Camp Morton, the "Potomac."

Toward the end of the 1850's there began to be talk about
utilizing the area known as Henderson's or Otis' Grove as a
site for the State Fairground; it was not too near the settled
part of the city, but near enough to be reached conveniently in
the days when people thought nothing of walking a mile and
a half and back again. In 1859 possession was actually taken,
and certain structures were built to fulfill the requirements for
"a place of universal interest." Along the northern side of the
grounds was a long structure like a shed. It had a strong roof
with suitable uprights, and not much in the way of siding —
wide boards placed vertically, with battens covering the cracks.
Some of the boards seem to have been green, or perhaps the
nails that were supposed to hold the battens were not driven in
straight; at any rate, there was much criticism because the
horses stabled in these long sheds were not properly protected,
especially where the south side of the structure was left open

^The act appointed Calvin Fletcher and Thomas Johnson commissioners
"to superintend the draining of the swamps and low lands immediately north
east of Indianapolis, the out let of which over flows the grounds west, north
east, and north of the State house square." Laws of Indiana, 1836-37 (local),
pp. 409-10; Ignatius Brown, "History of Indianapolis, from 1818 to 1868,"
in Logan's Indianapolis Directory . . . (Indianapolis, Logan & Co., 1868),
pp. 39-40.

CAMP MORTON 239

to the weather. At the west end of the grounds were 250
stalls for cattle, with sheds for the prize sheep and hogs, all
well covered. In addition there was a hall for the exhibition of
farm machinery, domestic manufactures, and farm produce.
Near the east end was a large dining room, and about the
center of the grounds was the only two-story building in the
place, an office building with several sizeable rooms.2 By
1 86 1 Henderson's Grove or the State Fairgrounds was well
known all over the state.

On April 12 of that year Fort Sumter was fired upon.
There was intense excitement on the streets of Indianapolis.
Little business was done in the stores, but a great deal of talk-
ing went on in the streets. Did the sovereign state of South
Carolina have the right to fire on the flag of the United States ?
Was Anderson right in defying the governor and state ? There
had never in the history of the city been a day like this one.3 A
mass meeting at the Marion County Courthouse had to be ad-
journed to the Metropolitan Theater, and this, in turn, over-
flowed to the Masonic Hall across the street. Two days later,
when word came of President Lincoln's proclamation asking
for seventy-five thousand volunteers, Governor Oliver Perry
Morton stepped forward on the stage. Morton came from a
race of fighters ; he was named for a great American fighter.
Far from being a "yes'' man, he might have been described as a
"no compromise" man, for he believed that the recalcitrant
South should be compelled to live up to the terms of the Con-
stitution of the United States. Without a day's delay he tele-
graphed the President an offer of ten thousand men. Recruit-
ing stations were opened that day, and members of military
companies and other volunteers rushed to enlist.

On the same day Morton chose his adjutant general — a
fellow lawyer who had had experience in the army, whose
judgment he trusted, and whose loyalty to the Constitution was

2James Sutherland (comp.), Indianapolis Directory and Business Mirror
for 1861 . . . (Indianapolis: Bowen, Stewart & Co., 1861), pp. 47-49. The
description of the grounds is accompanied by a chart showing the location
of the various points of interest. See also State Board of Agriculture,
Report, 1859 (Indianapolis, 1861), pp. lxvii, lxxx, Ixxxi.

3See John H. Holliday's account of these days in Jacob Piatt Dunn's
Greater Indianapolis ... (2 volumes, Chicago, 1910), I, 217 ff.

240 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

beyond doubt. General Wallace, known to us as "Lew" Wal-
lace, came to Indianapolis to survey the town with the Governor
in search of a suitable spot for the reception of the Indiana
troops as they came in. An area extending west from the
State House toward the river received some consideration, but
it was hardly large enough and there were no suitable buildings.
Henderson's Grove had all the requisites. It was far enough
out of town ; it had water, shade, and buildings ; it was on as
high ground as there was in the neighborhood ; and, best of all,
it had happy connections in the minds of the people.

On April 17, the first troops came into camp. They were,
of course, the local companies of Guards and Zouaves, but men
and boys from further out in the state came in from day to
day and were formed into companies and regiments as fast as
they assembled. These first regiments of Indiana soldiers
were well drilled and well uniformed. They were fine speci-
mens physically, too.

The practical problems of a training camp were many.
Where to put the new soldiers ? How to feed them ? How to
control them? How to train them in military tactics? The
existing buildings were utilized as offices. The office near the
carriage entrance was made headquarters, with Colonel
Joseph J. Reynolds in charge ; the first floor of the committee
building became the quartermaster's office; the second floor
was the medical inspector's office under Dr. John S. Bobbs;
in the large dining hall was the commissary's store, where food
was dispensed on the requisition of company officers; the
treasurer's office became the guardhouse; and the power hall
was fitted up as a hospital.

The remaining halls on the grounds were fitted with bunks,
but as they could not accommodate more than two thousand
men, the long rows of stalls were put to use as hunters' camps,
one side open to the weather. Six men were assigned to each
stall, their cooking fire out in front. Signs became the fashion,
and such men as had artistic instinct, and some who did not,
put up their modest advertisements : "Bates House," "Burnett
House," "washing and ironing," "dress making," "hair dress-
ing," and the like. Across the east end of the area sprang up
another row of sheds, also open to the weather, and along the

CAMP MORTON 241

south edge of the camp as near as might be to the State Ditch,
other rows of stalls were erected.4 By the end of April, 1861,
there were shelters of a sort for six thousand men.

The new sheds were built of green lumber, the boards ten
to twelve inches wide, and battens four inches wide. Sun and
rain got in their work on the green lumber, and soon the
soldiers were complaining heartily about their drafty, leaking
quarters.5 Some of the new "stalls" were closed on all four
sides, and their inside arrangement was thought to be very
good. Along two sides of the shed, extending seven feet to-
ward the middle, were constructed four tiers of bunks. The
lowest tier was one foot from the ground, which served as a
floor; it was three feet to the second, and three feet to the
third, which was on the level of the eaves. Two feet of space
were allowed each man. With this arrangement each barracks
would hold about 320 men. There was space enough between
the two rows of bunks for long tables, serving as dining tables
and as a suitable place for playing games. Entrance was
through large "barn doors" at each end, where the floor be-
came a mudhole at every heavy rainstorm, although the out-
side was ditched to carry off the rain.6 The camp was
surrounded by a high board fence, with armed guards every
twenty paces.7

Confusion was inevitable in a camp so hastily put into
operation, and so soon overflowing with its thousands of newly
enlisted men. Some of the men were sworn in at the State
House and sent to Camp Morton for regular muster and place-
ment, while other groups went directly to the camp. Muster
rolls were badly written. Many of the men were illiterate, and
the company clerks who wrote their names often misspelled
them. Many recruits thought it was a joke to give a ridiculous
name, while others, who had run away from home, gave false
names in order "not to be catched."

4Indianapolis Sentinel, April 23, 1861, p. 3, c. 2.

5John A. Wyeth, "Cold Cheer at Camp Morton," in Century Magazine,
XLI, 846 (April, 1891).

6Ibid.; John A. Wyeth, With Sabre and Scalpel (Harper & Brothers,
New York and London, 1914), PP- 288-89.

7Letter of Herman Bamberger, dated April 21, 1861, in Indianapolis
News, May 18, 1914, p. 10, c. 1.

242 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

As the troops kept pouring in, it became necessary to sup-
plement the barracks and stalls with tents, and then to divide
the troops and give them quarters outside the camp, although
Camp Morton remained the principal station. The Zouave
Regiment, or Eleventh Indiana, of special interest because of
its famous colonel, Lew Wallace, who had resigned his position
as adjutant, was moved to the old Belle fontaine car shop.8

Two Irish regiments and a German regiment were formed,
since it was found wise not to mix nationalities. Experience
later proved that it was not wise to use a German regiment
and an Irish regiment side by side in a charge, lest their ardor
to see which could "git thar fust" upset a carefully planned
military maneuver. Both groups loved music, and their ri-
valry in singing gave other regiments many a fine evening's
entertainment. There were also a railroad regiment and a
mechanic's regiment.9

When the cold weather set in, the members of this latter,
under Colonel A. D. Streight, conceived the idea of warming
their tents by constructing a series of hot-air furnaces. Be-
neath each tent was dug a trench some feet longer than the
diameter of the tent and covered first with stone, and then
with earth. At one end a huge square hole served as a furnace
mouth and the smoke, escaping through a chimney at the other
end, warmed the earth. This arrangement left the tent clear
of smoke with no danger of fire.10

When Camp Morton was first occupied, an attempt was
made to confine all drills to the grounds, but it soon became
apparent that the buildings and numerous trees permitted noth-
ing more than squad and company drills. An area just south
of the camp was then acquired, where large bodies of troops
could be taught to good advantage. Over this drill ground,
where officers and men alike were struggling to take on a
military cast, there occasionally rang out an order more notable
for its urgency than for its conformity to soldierly usages.
One captain who had been a railroader for years saw his

"Indianapolis Sentinel, April 26, 1861, p. 3, c. 3 ; Indianapolis Journal,
April 25, 1861, p. 2, c. 1.

"Indianapolis Sentinel, September 7, 1861, p. 3, c. 2.
"Indianapolis Journal, November 22, 1861, p. 3, c. 1.

CAMP MORTON 243

command about to march into a fence. "Down brakes!" he
shouted. "Down brakes!" Another officer allowed his at-
tention to wander for a moment during regimental drill ; sud-
denly he realized that the command to halt had been given and
in his excitement betrayed how recently he had come from the
farm by resorting to the old familiar "whoa I"11

Camp Morton quickly became a center of attraction. Roads
leading to it were filled with vehicles of all sorts, private and
public. It was fashionable to drive out to Camp Morton, and
in the afternoon the carriages of the best people of the town
might be seen appearing and disappearing in the clouds of dust
that hovered over the most respectable roads. The hack busi-
ness became a thriving enterprise. Ten cents was the fare
from the Circle, the "prop" paying a city license fee of ten
dollars a year for the use of the street to and from the camp.12

Sunday was the popular day for visitors. On April
21, 1 86 1, it was estimated that there were ten thousand of
them, making, with the five thousand soldiers at camp, a
huge throng for those times.13 These visitors did not under-
stand that much of the work of an army camp must proceed on
Sunday as well as on week days, nor did they grasp the fact
that homesick boys must be kept occupied at all times. There
was little to set apart the Sabbath day save that at times re-
ligious services were held for the different groups. Everyday
labor went on as usual among the three hundred civilians
about the camp, and the speakers had to compete with the sound
of sawing and hammering, with teamsters addressing mules
in the language which they seemed best to understand; with
the shrill noises of nails being drawn from boxes; and with
drill sergeants addressing their squads of recruits.14

The Sunday following the deluge of visitors, the camp
was ordered closed to all outsiders. "The camp has been so
crowded since it was formed," stated the Sentinel of April 27,
"that it is only a matter of justice to the men to allow them

"Indianapolis Sentinel, November 4, 1861, p. 3, c. 2.
"Indianapolis Journal, April 24, 1861, p. 3, c. 2; July 13, p. 3, c. 1.
13Letter of Herman Bamberger, dated April 21, 1861, in Indianapolis
News, May 18, 191 4, p. 10, c. 1.

"Indianapolis Journal, April 22, 1861, p. 3, c. 1.

244 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

one day in the week free from intrusion, to say nothing of the
respect due to the day."

During that week a barrack rumor did its best to mortify
all good citizens. It was noised abroad that the Honorable
Stephen A. Douglas would speak at Camp Morton. The city
hummed with excitement. The state legislators, then in special
session, marched out to the camp in a body, preceded by the
National Guard Band. Such a jam resulted that Mr. Douglas
could not even see the camp, much less inspect it. And there
was no speech. Douglas was finally obliged to escape by a
side road to rejoin his party.15 In the meantime a report went
out among the crowd that the wells had been poisoned and that
a peddler had been selling poisoned oranges in camp. To still
the first report, the guard at the wells was doubled, and the
second was disposed of by the quick wit of Dr. Fletcher, who
stopped a riot by eating one of the libeled oranges.16 These
matters resulted in a tightening of discipline and a more
military atmosphere.

The government regulations gave the bugle calls for the
day as follows :17

1. Reveille 6 a. m. 7. Dinner 12^ m.

2. Police call 6%. a. m. 8. Drill 2 p. m.

3. Breakfast 7 a. m. 9. Retreat Parade 5 p. m.

4. Guard Mounting 8 a. m. 10. Supper 6 p. m.

5. Drill 8J/2 a. m. 11. Tattoo 9 p. m.

6. Drill 11 a. m. 12. Taps 10 p. m.

Distribution of soldiers' mail became a problem as soon as
the camp was established. Before the end of April, 186 1, J. F.
Dougherty was made a "route agent" between the town and the
camp. Letters and papers were sent to company headquarters
four times a day, and by May 1 there were about two hundred
letters in and out each day. On May 4, a new post office was
commissioned at the camp (Dillard C. Donohue, postmaster)
so that mail could be sent direct.18

"Indianapolis Journal, April 25, 1861, p. 3, c. 1 ; Indianapolis Sentinel,
April 25, 1861, p. 3, c. 2.

^Indianapolis Journal, April 25, 1861, p. 3, c. 1 ; Indianapolis Sentinel,
April 25, 1861, p. 3, c. 1.

"Indianapolis Journal, extra, April 21, 1861, c. 4.

™Ibid., May 10, 1861, p. 3, c. 2; Post Office Index, Indiana Division,
Indiana State Library.

CAMP MORTOX 245

Soldier recreation was plentiful. Games brought from
home included checkers, chess, and card games, and there was
the usual "rough stuff" such as the Knights of Malta initia-
tion— this meant being tossed on a piece of tent canvas handled
by a squad of tormentors.19 There were always rumors about
the progress of the war, interlarded with stories of blunders
made by officers and men. These, it was admitted, improved
directly as the square of the distance they traveled. Some one
officer or enlisted man was likely to serve as the camp "butt."
Captain Will C. Moreau, a relative of the victor of Hohen-
linden, was one of these. While in Indiana to recruit a
company of cavalry, he gave a dinner for his friends and
several prominent citizens. Instead of the "beans, salt pork
and sheet iron biscuit" which usually comprised the dinner at
an officer's headquarters, the Journal describes Captain
Moreau's feast as "a dinner, which in the way of oysters,
champagne, and all the most desirable additions of a recherche
feast, has had no parallel in our memory." Such an occasion
caused no end of comment around the camp.20

One of the most active agencies in helping with the emer-
gency was the Ladies Patriotic Association, organized by
Mrs. Morton and conducted by her for both Union recruits
and Confederate prisoners. She was a militant president, and
when she thought that the work was not up to the necessities
of the moment, she scolded the members publicly through the
columns of the Journal and Sentinel. The association was
nonsectarian, nonpolitical, and as a rule very active, often
meeting at the Governor's Mansion. One Saturday the group
made over two hundred dollars worth of flannel into gar-
ments.21 Havelocks were made for the men, and when an
epidemic of measles brought a sudden demand, sheets, pillow-
cases, towels, and shirts were provided.22

These ladies also conducted campaigns for gifts for the
camp. On October 10, Governor Morton sent out a special
appeal to the ladies for blankets, socks, gloves and mittens,

"Indianapolis Journal, May 25, t86i, p. 3, c. 1.
20 Ibid., October 22, 1861, p. 3, c. 2.
^Ibid., April 21, 1861, extra, c. 3.
"Ibid., May 17, 1861, p. 3. c. 1.

246 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

woolen shirts, and drawers. Six weeks later it was announced
that tons of materials had been received, enough of everything
except gloves and mittens.23 Other appeals, made to patriotic
societies throughout the state, met with a most generous re-
sponse. Articles most acceptable were "beef or salt pork, flour,
sugar and rice, in barrels or sacks; white beans, dried apples
and peaches, in barrels or sacks; crackers in barrels; hard soap,
tallow or star candles, in boxes ; bacon — either hams, shoulders
or sides, in barrels, casks or boxes."24

The problem of clothing was for many months a serious
one. The boys often came to camp barefoot and with clothes
for warm weather only. Many had not much more than
trousers and shirt. Pending the arrival of government uni-
forms and supplies, the state had to do its best, aided by gifts.
Two regiments were clothed in cadet satinet, two-piece suits,
at $7.90 each. One regiment had jean uniforms at $6.50
each; another, a better grade of the same material, at $7.50 a
suit. The Fifth Indiana wore gray satinet at $6.75 a uniform,
while the gay Zouaves rejoiced in ten-dollar costumes of the
Josephian variety. Flannel shirts cost $1.40 each, hats $1.25,
and shoes $1.15 a pair. By the time cold weather approached,
it had to be admitted that the war would not be over in a few
weeks, and officials began to demand that jackets and trousers
should be all wool.25

During the first summer the health of the soldiers at Camp
Morton was remarkably good, giving little warning of the
terrible health problems of the later years. Drs. John M.
Kitchen and Patrick H. Jameson were in charge of the sick
among the troops at the camp, and were asked to provide
suitable hospital accommodations. Sick calls in the morning
regularly brought all minor cases to the receiving hospital on
the camp grounds, while serious cases were sent by ambulance
to the City Hospital, a new building not heretofore occupied.
It became an army hospital on April 2g.26 In May, 1861,

^Holliday, "Civil War Times," in Dunn, Greater Indianapolis, I, 224.

24Indianapolis Sentinel, April 22, 1861, p. 2, c. 3.

^Holliday, "Civil War Times," in Dunn, Greater Indianapolis, I, 222.

^Report of Hospital Surgeons, Drs. Kitchen & Jameson (Indianapolis,
1863), in Indiana and the War, I, No. 31, Indiana Division, Indiana State
Library; Indianapolis Sentinel, August 16, 1861, p. 3, c. 4.

CAMP MORTON 247

out of probably seven thousand men in camp, there were only
fifteen hospital cases, with about one hundred and fifty tem-
porary cases suffering from diarrhea or colds.27 When the
first death occurred at Camp Morton, the members of the
legislature made personal contributions for the purchase of a
lot in which soldiers dying in camp might be buried if there
were no relatives to claim the body.28

Of all the problems at Camp Morton in 1861, the most con-
stantly annoying one was the food question. Complaining
about the food was the standard amusement of the soldiers,
indoor and outdoor. All good soldiers complain about every-
thing, the complaints, like water, flowing downward, for no
wise soldier complains so that his superior officers can hear.
It must be remembered that no one knew very much about
dietary requirements or about how to secure in quantity the
multitudinous things that a large camp needs. There was a
very limited variety of canned goods. Salt meat of varying
degrees of saltiness, salt fish, fruit and vegetables, and jelly,
were about all these boys of 1861 could hope for. "Glassed''
fruit was expensive, largely on account of the price of sugar,
and the boxes from home too often resulted in intestinal dis-
turbances of a serious character. There was no market of
foods on an enormous scale, as there is now. The wonder is
that rations were not infinitely worse.

The first commissary general was Isaiah Mansur, an
honest man and a hard worker. As it happened, he had to
begin the feeding of the troops and, simultaneously, learn all
the army rules and regulations concerning supplies. No pro-
visions were on hand and he had to buy where he could and in
small quantities. Since a large proportion of the boys came
from homes where food was plentiful, and since they were all
unacquainted with army cooking and camp economy, the
Governor and Mr. Mansur thought it wise to issue larger
allotments of food than the regular army allowance granted.
The following table will show how advantageous the arrange-
ment was for the troops :29

27Indianapolis Journal, May 1, 1861, p. 3, c. 2.

"Ibid., May 3, 1861, p. 3, c. 3.

29Indiana House Journal, 1861 (special session), pp. 213-14.

248 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

ARMY RATIONS RATIONS ISSUED

PER COMPANY BY MR. MANSUR

Pork 75 lbs no lbs.

or

Beef 125 lbs 150 lbs.

Flour 112% lbs .* 150 lbs.

or

Hard Bread 100 lbs none

Beans 8 qts 130 lbs.

or

Rice 10 lbs 12 lbs.

Coffee 6 lbs 8 lbs.

Sugar 12 lbs 16 lbs.

Vinegar 1 gal 2*4 gals.

Candles 1^ lbs 3 lbs.

Soap 4 lbs 6 lbs.

Salt 2 qts 12 lbs.

Potatoes 100 lbs.

Pepper 1 lb.

Dried fruit 11/1 lbs.

Onions 3 bu.

Pickles and other anti-
scorbutics no special amount

Nevertheless, the complaints poured into the newspapers.
The meat was too salty, the dried apples wormy, the beans
unsound, and, most loudly criticized of all, the coffee was
adulterated with parched beans. Many of these boys had been
accustomed in their own homes to coffee substitutes made of
parched grains including chicory, rye, and maize. "Rye-
'n'lnjun" made a hot drink that was good and relatively harm-
less (at least, no one needed to worry about caffeine or theo-
bromine, while knowledge of vitamins and calories were at
least two generations in the future) ; the troops were not
hungry (it was no uncommon thing to see soldiers pelting
each other with potatoes or bacon or loaves of bread) ;30 but
the citizens of Indiana were vastly excited. There was talk
of unlawful profits in the Commissary General's office, and
much sentimental indignation over the injustice done to In-
diana's heroic sons. To think "that the poor boys should be
put off with anything less than the fat of the land afforded!"
There began an inpouring of boxes from home : roast fowl,

^Terrell. Report, I, 452.

CAMP MORTON 249

baked ham, fresh butter and eggs, jellies, accompanied too
often by pound cake, pickles, and other indigestible goodies
that were regarded without charity by the surgeons at the
emergency hospital.

The legislature insisted upon an investigation of the Com-
missary General's office. The report of the investigating
committee exonerated Mansur ; in fact, it served to show how
good a job had been done under the worst possible conditions,
and that Mansur had lost personally instead of making large
sums unlawfully. The only proof of trouble had to do with
the way the coffee was handled before it reached Mr. Mansur's
hands, a matter for which he was in no way responsible.
Spoiled meat had been served on one day, but it had been
replaced with good meat as soon as the trouble was reported.
Financial records were in very good shape considering the fact
that a large business had been done by inexperienced persons.
The Senate took no action, but the House, of a political cast
disinclined to support Mansur, passed a resolution demanding
his removal. As Mr. Mansur had accepted the position only
out of a sense of duty, he took this opportunity to resign.sl

Governor Morton appointed Asahel Stone to take Mansur's
place. Like his predecessor, Stone furnished many items not
provided for by army regulations. For a few months things
went better, but presently there was a complaint that the coffee
was not only adulterated, but "the worst on the market." In
the fall of 1861 the United States Government took over all the
work of subsisting the troops in Indiana during their training
period. From that time on standard army rations were given
out, and the boys began to realize how well Mansur and Stone
had looked after them.32 At least under the new regime they
were broken in before they went into the field.

Constant turnover of the higher officers was another
characteristic of the camp at this early time. Since no good
officer wanted to stay in camp doing the work of a nursery
maid when there was fighting to be done elsewhere, there was

31Terrell, Report, I, 451-54; Indiana House Journal, 1861 (special
session), pp. 213-18, 242-43, 253-54; Indiana Senate Journal, 1861 (special
session), p. 164.

"Terrell, op. cit., I, 454-55-

250 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

a succession of resignations among the higher officers who
left to go into the field. Replacements had to be made from
officers more or less new to the work. Practically all the more
important men connected with Camp Morton were criticized
bitterly in letters that were sent home from camp.

Clothing supplies were constantly under criticism, especially
after cold weather set in, for a large part of them, purchased
at the price of first-grade wool, were said to be shoddy. Men's
minds were full of worry and tempers were short. After
the United States took control, Major Alexander Montgomery,
United States Quartermaster at Indianapolis, became involved
in a controversy with Governor Morton and the rest of the
state government over the purchase of overcoats for troops
in the field, and the resulting delay caused serious discomfort
to the poor boys who were forced to do without the coats dur-
ing the wrangling. The overcoat was the most expensive part
of a soldier's equipment, and both lack of materials and in-
efficiency in turning them out were of serious consequence to
both soldiers and prisoners.33

Governor Morton probably considered his cup of trouble
full with these problems, but others were soon added. Re-
curring scandals, attempts to run the guards, and difficulties
with inefficient officers kept him busy. The first six regi-
ments were completed, started for the field, returned, were
discharged and re-enlisted. New men were constantly being
taken into the training units, when in February, 1862, a new
and imperative need appeared in the troubled field of military
activities. Prisoners of war were being taken in large num-
bers, and had to be taken care of. Prison camps were scat-
tered all over the northern states, wherever transportation
facilities and local conditions made it possible to care for
large groups of men. Camp Morton met the requirements
better than many places and was taken over by the Federal
Government to house Confederate prisoners.

33Indianapolis Journal, October 8, 1861, p. 2, c. 1 ; Indianapolis Sentinel,
November 5, 1861, p. 2, c. 2-3 ; November 6, 1861, p. 2, c. 1, 2; Terrell, Report,
I, 316-18.

II. PRISONERS' CAMP UNDER
RICHARD OWEN, 1862

In the early days of the Civil War, neither the North nor
the South had any organization for handling prisoners.
Both sides expected the war to be of short duration, and for
some time no attempt was made to detain captured soldiers.
They were paroled on oath not to serve in the field as com-
batants until duly exchanged, and then turned loose to make
their way home as best they could. Such a plan was humane
and efficient in minor conflicts, but when it was realized that
a long struggle was inevitable, provision for the confinement
of prisoners became necessary.

By law and army regulations this duty fell to the Quarter-
master General, Montgomery C. Meigs. The regulations called
for a commissary general of prisoners who was to keep an
account of the prisoners, assume charge of all captives taken
by his government, manage the business of exchange in case of
cartel, and transmit to the prisoners held by the enemy such
supplies as were sent them. Accordingly, General Meigs, in
July, 1 86 1, asked Secretary of War Simon Cameron to appoint
such an officer. This appointment, delayed until October of
that year, fell to Lieutenant Colonel William H. Hoffman, of
the Eighth Infantry, still on parole from General David E.
Twiggs' surrender of the Texas garrison.1 Hoffman gathered
around him a small group of hand-picked men through whose
efforts a system of prison camps was gradually worked out.

There were at least three groups of men who came under
the designation of prisoners of war. First there were the
political prisoners. In the fall of 186 1, a system of passports
was introduced in the North, and in July, 1862, it seemed

*For a general discussion of the prison situation in 1861-62, see William
Best Hesseltine, Civil War Prisons: A Study in War Psychology (Ohio
State University Press, Columbus, 1930), pp. 34 f f • 5 for Hoffman's appoint-
ment, see also The War of the Rebellion : A Compilation of the Official
Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, cited hereafter as Official
Records, 2 series (8 volumes. Washington, D. C, 1894-1899), III, 48, 121.

(251)

252 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

necessary to suspend the writ of habeas corpus. Thousands of
persons were "arrested on suspicion," and could be held in pri-
son without trial for an indefinite period. All of our genera-
tion is well acquainted with war hysteria. Men and women
were arrested on the most absurd charges, some because they
"looked^ funny," some because of poor eyesight, some because
of peculiarities of speech, some because they had what was
supposed to be "a southern accent." There were thousands of
these unfortunates, victims of "a little brief authority" in the
wrong hands. These people as a rule had no recourse, and
since they could not be held in the ordinary prisons, some
place had to be found where they could be retained until the
hysteria died.

Second came the officers of the Confederate Army —
gentlemen accustomed to the life of gentlemen, used to per-
sonal attendance, good horses, and such pleasures as the times
furnished. Such men might easily endure the hardships of
military life in the field, but the manifold discomforts of a
prison camp, together with a constantly growing sense of
futility, made them utterly miserable and easy prey to disease.

The third and much the largest group consisted of the
noncommissioned officers and men. As a group they were
without the mental and moral resources of the officers, al-
though physically they could better withstand the hardships of
prison life. Most of them were insufficiently clothed even for
summer, and there was never an overcoat among them. The
fact that many of them did not have shoes meant the preva-
lence of hookworm with its attendant troubles. Few of them
were uniformed. Homemade garments dyed with the brown-
ish stain of the walnut were so generally worn that the nick-
name "but'nuts" was almost inevitable.2 These men suffered
from intestinal troubles due to a lack of good food, and they
were pediculous to a miserable degree. This condition pre-
vailed in prison camps both North and South, and was one
of the causes of the high mortality rate.3

Before Hoffman's appointment as commissary general of

2[ Catharine Merrill], The Soldier of Indiana in the War for the Union
(2 volumes. Indianapolis, Merrill and Company, 1866, 1869), I, 317-18.
3Hans Zinsser, Rats, Lice and History (Boston, 1935) .

CAMP MORTON 253

prisoners these three groups of prisoners were housed together
in the temporary prison camps — with the worst possible re-
sults— but in February, 1862, came the demand for prison
space on a large scale, and the necessity of segregating dif-
ferent types of prisoners was taken into consideration. This
was the first truly cheerful month for the North, with the
capture of Fort Henry on the sixth and Fort Donelson on the
sixteenth. General Henry W. Halleck sought places where
prisoners could be cared for without withdrawing men from
the Union forces to guard them. The system finally developed
under Hoffman provided that general officers be sent to a
small island in Boston Harbor where Fort Warren was located
(being desperate villains, they should be securely imprisoned) ;
lesser commissioned officers were sent to Johnson's Island in
the harbor of Sandusky, Ohio; and noncommissioned officers
and privates were sent to eight scattered camps including Camp
Douglas, at Chicago, the largest; Camp Chase at Columbus,
Ohio; Camp Butler, at Springfield, Illinois; and Camp Morton,
at Indianapolis, the third largest of the group.4

After the fall of Fort Donelson, Halleck telegraphed
Governor Morton, asking him how many prisoners he could
provide for. On February 17 the Governor replied, "We can
take 3,000 if necessary," but 3,700 came to be quartered at
Camp Morton.5

No one had known exactly what to do with the few pris-
oners in Indianapolis before this date. Sometimes, if they
had the means, they were allowed to live at a hotel, reporting
to headquarters once a day. Those without money were per-
mitted to get jobs in the town, and use the income for their
support. There was an entire lack of regulation with regard
to their care; persons responsible for them had simply done
whatever was most practicable under the circumstances. To

'Official Records, 2 series, III, 269, 270-71, 274, 276, 277, 278, 281, 288,
337; Hesseltine, Civil War Prisons, p. 41. For pictures of the various
camps, hospitals, officials, and prisoners of note, see Holland Thompson
(ed.), Prisons and Hospitals {The Photographic History of The Civil War,
Volume Seven. The Review of Reviews Co., New York, 1911).

^Official Records, 2 series, III, 269 f f. ; Jacob P. Dunn, Indiana and Indi-
anans ... (5 volumes. Chicago and New York, 1919), II, 613-14; Indianapolis
Sentinel, March 15, 1862, and following issues.

254 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

provide for an influx of 3,700 men was a problem to tax
the best heads. The doctors of the city threw themselves into
the work, and the citizens, touched by the miserable appearance
of the captives, gave clothes and bedding, jelly and fresh bread
of their own baking.6

A stupendous load of charitable work was undertaken by
the Sanitary Commission, in a way a forerunner of the Red
Cross. At Camp Morton such problems were also taken care
of by the ladies of the town who had been organized under
the leadership of Mrs. Morton, but here again local conditions
interfered with good results. There were so many sympa-
thizers with the Confederate cause in Marion County that
many of the ladies with Union sympathies feared that work
for the prisoners would put them under suspicion.

Mention should be made at this place of the troubles at
some of the other camps, since they throw much light on the
happenings at Camp Morton. Fort Warren was a masonry
structure on one of the many hundreds of small islands — noth-
ing more than great heaps of gravel — in Boston Harbor, de-
pendent for security on the swift currents that surrounded
them at all stages of the tide. No one ever lived through the
waters of Shirley Gut, surrounding Deer Island, and while
Fort Warren stood on the highest point on Governor's Island
and, therefore, had the best position as a lookout, it was also
the coldest and the windiest spot in the harbor, and naturally
the most difficult to heat. The fireplaces and an occasional
stove formed the totally inadequate source of warmth, with
fuel often at a premium. Confederate generals suffered ex-
tremely from climatic conditions, since they were not ac-
customed to the chill of a stone structure during a nor'easter,
with the mercury at twenty below.

Johnson's Island likewise depended on its situation for the
security of the prisoners.7 There were not, of course, the deep

6Holliday, "Civil War Times," in Dunn, Greater Indianapolis, I, 226.

7For Colonel Hoffman's report to General Meigs on the selection of
Johnson's Island and his recommendations concerning the buildings to be
erected, see Official Records, 2 series, III, 54-57. See also ibid., Ill, 122-23,
135-36, 326-27 ; H. Carpenter, "Plain Living at Johnson's Island," in Century
Magazine, XLI, 705-18 (March, 1891) ; Joe Barbiere, Scraps from the
Prison Table at Camp Chase and Johnson's Island (Doylestown, Pa., 1868).

CAMP MORTON 255

water and the strong current of Boston Harbor, but a mile of
water and the mud flats helped a good deal. The Confederate
officers who were the inmates of the prison were worth taking
some risk to rescue, but no attempt of this sort was ever suc-
cessfully carried out. Newspaper scares and the outpourings
of such reckless talkers as Clement) Laird Vallandigham gave
warning, and the prison on Johnson's Island was closely
guarded at all times. It probably maintained the most severe
discipline of all the camps.

Camp Douglas at Chicago had the worst situation of all
prisoners' camps in the North.8 It was on low ground, badly
drained, and had no protection from the land winds. Conse-
quently the death rate among the prisoners, who arrived poorly
clothed and ill fed, was very great. Due to the strong feeling
in the city against the prisoners, relief work among the men
was relatively less than elsewhere. There was also dishonesty
among the civilian employees, and trouble arising from the
type of men placed in charge of the camp. The feeling of help-
lessness among the prisoners in the face of legal wrongs that
they could not right, their poor health and the high death
rate, the bad food conditions and lack of hospitalization, all
combined to furnish additional proof, if any were needed, of
the correctness of General Sherman's famous observation on
the nature of war.

The problem of converting Camp Morton into a prisoners'
camp fell to Captain James A. Ekin, an assistant quartermaster
general of the United States Army who had been stationed at
Indianapolis since the preceding August. Strict economy in
all changes was demanded by Colonel Hoffman and General
Meigs. The stock stalls along the north fence, which had
housed Indiana troops during the preceding summer and
autumn, were remodeled to provide six apartments for sleep-
ing purposes and one for eating purposes, and additional bar-
racks were erected of lumber that had been used for temporary
stables.9 There was no time to have the work done before the

^Official Records, 2 series, IV, 106, no, in; Reminiscences of Chicago
During the Civil War, with an introduction by Mabel Mcllvaine (R. R.
Donnelley & Sons Company, Chicago, 1914), 161-94.

"Terrell, Report, I, 446, 447, 456; Official Records, 2 series, III, 278,
301, 335-36.

256 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

arrival of the prisoners, or according to any carefully con-
sidered plan.

Colonel Hoffman, having inspected the camp after the
prisoners came, made the criticism on March 12, 1862, that
the quarters were "dark and close and there must be much
sickness . . . unless some improvements are made."10 Shortly
after, prisoners were transferred from one barracks at a time
into tents, so that windows could be put in the dark buildings
to give more light and air during the warm weather. In June
new barracks were erected to relieve the overcrowded condi-
tions.11

Around the camp ran a wall constructed like a palisade. It
was made of two-inch oak planks, with an outside walk for the
sentries placed about four feet below the top of the wall. This
arrangement allowed plenty of space for the sentry to fire if
necessary.12 The gates, of course, had to be reconstructed and
so extended inside and out that "rushes" would be impossible.
The most serious problem in camp engineering was the posi-
tion of the camp latrines. It was necessary to place them at
the lower edge of the camp, and below the level of the springs
from which the camp got its drinking water. Because of the
great number of men confined to the small area and because
the soil did not drain well, it proved to be impossible to keep
the ground dry.

No one had known just when the first prisoners would
arrive at Camp Morton. After their capture the men were
herded on river steamers and taken to St. Louis, where they
were kept a few days under very bad conditions. They were
then loaded on railroad cars of any kind that was available.
Old passenger coaches, freight cars, and even flat cars were
used, all under guard, of course. Lack of seats and any accom-
modations whatsoever brought the men to Indianapolis in
pretty bad shape.13

The citizens of Indianapolis were full of forebodings at the

^Official Records, 2 series, III, 375.
"Ibid., Ill, 400-1, 620-21.

"Indianapolis News, February 24, 1897, p. 6, c. 2.

"Indianapolis Journal, February 22, 1862, p. 3, c. 2 ; Confederate Veteran,
V, 33 (January, 1897).

CAMP MORTON 257

advent of a large number of prisoners. Everyone was nervous
and fidgety, but very full of curiosity. The day before the
prisoners came the excitement was so great that a crowd of
three thousand or more persons gathered near the station to
see the men brought in. No prisoners appeared,14 but at last
it was reported that an officer with his command had been
ordered to meet the train the next day, February 22.15 Then
people knew something was happening.

A large crowd gathered early in the morning and waited
until the middle of the afternoon, cheerfully going without
dinner in the excitement. The first unit to arrive consisted
of a mixed train of passenger and box cars, twenty-two in
all, which, to the disappointment of the crowd, did not stop at
the Union Station at all, but continued on over the tracks of
the Union Railway Company to Massachusetts Avenue, where
the men were detrained and marched over country roads to
Camp Morton.16

As the train passed through the station, some of the
waiting people, regardless of the orders of the guard,
climbed to the roofs of the cars, riding on to the avenue with
the prisoners. Women and children stood along the tracks
nearly the whole distance, waving and shouting, while small
boys trotted beside the train. One young man, carried away
by his eagerness to see everything that was to be seen, fell
in at the end of the line of prisoners and marched with them
into the main gate of Camp Morton. Curiosity had got the
better of his judgment. Unable to prove that he was a citizen
of Indianapolis, he was held over night and forced to bunk
with a "secesh" who probably felt equally outraged. The
second group of prisoners was unloaded on a side track which
lay across South Street about where the Pennsylvania freight
station now stands and marched to the camp from there.

There is no doubt that this entry furnished the townspeople

"Indianapolis Sentinel, February 21, 1862, p. 3, c. 2.

"Lazarus Noble, Adjutant General's Office, Letter and Order Book
No. 1, November 23, 1861-January, 1863 (Archives Division, Indiana State
Library), p. 117.

"Indianapolis Sentinel, February 24, 1862, p. 2, c. 2; Indianapolis Journal,
February 24, 1862, p. 3, c. 1, 2.

258 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

with a Roman holiday. However, the prisoners entered freely
into conversation with the bystanders and goodnaturedlv
answered questions. The Journal had suggested two days be-
fore that the citizens show a kindly spirit toward the prisoners
and refrain from insults to men who were powerless to resent
them.17

The second train on Saturday brought in about four
hundred prisoners ; other groups came in on Sunday, Monday,
and Tuesday, bringing the total number to 3,700. Some of the
last to arrive were forced to spend the night in the Indianapolis
and Cincinnati freight house. In the morning those at the
station, 325 in all, were marched to Camp Morton; those re-
maining, about eight hundred, were sent on to Lafayette.
About eight hundred more stopped at Terre Haute, but all of
these, except a few who were too ill to be moved, were brought
to Camp Morton by the middle of March. By April 1, there
were five thousand men around the camp, counting both the
guards and the prisoners. Squads continued to arrive during
the spring and summer, often without any warning, the largest
installment, over one thousand men, coming in after the battle
of Shiloh.18

In the first groups of prisoners officers and men were
commingled. Experience had already taught that it was
dangerous to allow them to remain together, for the officers as
a rule were prone to encourage their men to break out of camp
and return South, doing what damage they could on the way.
With their firm belief in the ultimate triumph of their cause,
they were bound to try any plan for getting back under their
own flag. In view of this fact, the officers were separated
from their men and quartered in barracks on Washington
Street east of the Odd Fellows Hall, which had been occupied
earlier by the Nineteenth Infantry.

Most of them had lost both clothing and blankets in the
confusion of their surrender. Because of their confinement

17February 20, 1862, p. 2, c. 1, p. 3, c. 2.

18Indianapolis Sentinel, February 24, 1862, p. 2, c. 2 ; February 25, p. 3, c.
2; Indianapolis Journal, February 24, 1862, p. 3, c. 1-2; March 10, p. 3, c. 2 :
Terrell, Report, I, 457; Noble, A. G. O., Letter and Order Book No. 1,
p. 171.

CAMP MORTON 259

food was prepared for the officers and they were permitted the
privilege of buying supplementary provisions at their own
expense. General Simon B. Buckner and his staff were
quartered in the government building on Pennsylvania Street
and their meals were brought from the Palmer House. How-
ever, the Sentinel of February 27, 1862, assured the public
that such meals were paid for by the General out of his
own pocket.19

One of the Turnvereins, every man of which had enlisted,
rented its hall to house officers. This building stood near the
northeast corner of the intersection of Meridian and Maryland
streets. When officers to the number of 1 10 had accumulated,
they were sent to Camp Chase at Columbus, Ohio, where they
were kept until officers' quarters were prepared at Johnson's
Island in Sandusky Harbor. General Buckner was transferred
to Fort Warren.20

Many of the officers had with them colored servants,
whose status was in doubt. They were not combatants, and
they were hardly to be considered as camp followers. Halleck
told Morton to let them go, if they wished to. If they chose
to stay, they must be under military control.21 Their own
sentiments were summed up neatly in the announcement that
"dey wasn't going to leave de boys dey came with, no how."22
Some negroes remained at Camp Morton, and were in con-
siderable demand as orderlies in the hospitals.

19Indianapolis Journal, February 25, 1862, p. 3, c. 1, 2; February 27, p. 3,
c. 1 ; Indianapolis Sentinel, February 25, 1862, p. 3, c. 2 ; February 27, p. 3,
c. 2. Some citizens suggested Buckner should be kept in solitary confinement.
Letters of February 26, 1862, to Morton, Executive Department file, 109.9,
1861.

^Official Records, 2 series, III, 320, 333 ; Indianapolis Sentinel,
February 28, 1862, p. 3, c. 1.

^Oliver P. Morton, Telegraphic Correspondence, February 5-June 10,
1862, pp. 56, 57, 64, 65, 66, 67 (Archives Division, Indiana State Library).

"Indianapolis Sentinel, February 24, 1862, p. 3, c. 2. An editorial in the
Indianapolis Journal, March 29, 1862, commented bitterly because negroes
who had been captured at Fort Donelson and sent to Camp Chase were still
serving their masters as slaves. A report from the Assistant Inspector General
of the Army to General Thomas on April 6, 1862, stated, however, that they
were considered as prisoners of war, receiving exactly the same treatment as
other prisoners. Official Records, 2 series, III, 428.

260 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Surgeons and chaplains were allowed the freedom of the city
on parole, being required to report daily at headquarters. It
was at first supposed that captured physicians would exercise
their vocation with their fellow prisoners. Some of these were
sent to Camp Chase where they were badly needed, but after
June, 1862, all were released in accordance with a general
ruling that surgeons were not to be held as prisoners of war.23

The privates and noncommissioned officers were mostly
small farmers or squatters from Mississippi, Kentucky, and
Tennessee. They presented a shabby and forlorn appearance.
Almost a year after the firing on Fort Sumter it was still rare
to find any kind of a uniform among the prisoners. Oc-
casionally a man would have an army blanket, either bought
from England or plundered from a former United States post
in the South. More common than the gray blanket was a
square piece of carpet flung over the shoulders. Most of the
men had a bundle of odds and ends, sometimes a bag of cof-
fee or a slab of bacon. Few had any extra clothing, and an
overcoat was unheard of.24 Immediately numbers of them
fell sick, and since the camp had no hospital facilities adequate
to provide for them, they were taken to improvised hospitals in
the city where overworked physicians gave them what help they
could under the handicaps of poor quarters and limited equip-
ment. The hospitals are described at greater length in Chap-
ter IV.

The dispirited, over- fatigued men who poured into Camp
Morton on February 22 and the succeeding days were nearly
famished. Supplies for prisoners' camps — quarters, clothing,
and rations — were normally furnished through the regular
Army, but in this emergency there was no officer from the
Federal Commissary Department at hand to provide for the
prisoners. Commissary General Stone, of Governor Morton's
staff, met the situation characteristically by ordering about
four thousand rations at twenty-five cents each for prisoners

"Indianapolis Sentinel, February 25, 1862, p. 3, c. 2 ; Noble, A. G. O.,
Letter and Order Book No. 1, p. 209; Official Records, 2 series, IV, 45;
Oliver P. Morton, Governor's Office, Letter Book, January 1, 1862 to
January 17, 1863 (Archives Division, Indiana State Library), pp. 7-8.

"Indianapolis Journal, February 24, 1862, p. 3, c. 1 ; Soldier of Indiana,
I, 3I7-I8.

CAMP MORTON 261

and guards, and securing the authorization later.25 Blankets
were also issued.26

The citizens offered emergency aid too, the Sentinel report-
ing on February 25 that throughout the day wagons had been
progressing toward the camp in long trains, "loaded with the
necessaries and comforts and even the luxuries of life." A
sterner attitude was maintained by Adjutant General Lazarus
Noble, who wrote to an inquirer on February 24: "Every
attention will be paid to the Prisoners that their necessities and
well-being demand; — anything further will not be allowed.
They and their friends must reflect that they are Rebel
Prisoners and as such cannot be allowed the luxuries and
comforts incident to a peaceful home."27

In the meantime, Captain Ekin was telegraphing to his
superiors for instructions about supplies for the prisoners.
Like Stone, he had been driven by their necessities to act first
and hope that official approval would follow. General Meigs
wired to Colonel Hoffman on February 24 : "Visit Chicago,
Indianapolis and other places to which the prisoners taken in
Tennessee have been sent. Report what is absolutely necessary
to prevent their suffering. Quartermasters are in charge. Be-
sides the rations allowed by regulations without regard to rank
the United States will supply such blankets, cooking utensils
and clothing as are necessary to prevent real suffering. Much
clothing not good enough for troops has by fraud of inspectors
and dealers been forced into our depots. This will be
used. ..." Ekin received substantially the same orders
the next day.28

Guards for the camp had to be provided on short notice,
also. As soon as Governor Morton knew that several thousand
prisoners would have to be taken care of, he summoned several
partially filled regiments that were being recruited in different
parts of the state. The Fourteenth Battery of Light Artillery,

^Official Records, 2 series, III, 333. The regular cost of the ration
was less than half this amount. Indianapolis Journal, February 25, 1862,
P- 3, c. 3.

^Ibid., p. 3, c. 2 ; Ekin to Morton, February 24, 1862, Executive Depart-
ment file, 109.9, 1861.

^Noble, A. G. O., Letter and Order Book No. 1, pp. 143-44-

^Official Records, 2 series, III, 278, 316-17, 322.

262 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

under Captain Meredith H. Kidd, the Fifty-third Regiment
of Indiana Volunteers, under Colonel Walter Q. Gresham. and
the Sixtieth under Colonel Richard Owen all reached Indian-
apolis within a few days. Colonel Ben S. Nicklin, who had
been commandant at Camp Morton for some months, remained
in charge until these hastily summoned troops arrived, when
Colonel Owen took command.29

Owen's appointment as commandant proved most fortu-
nate. He was an experienced soldier. Combining strength
and gentleness, he was a good disciplinarian and at the same
time tempered his rulings with sympathy. From February
until the middle of June, the difficult experimental months
during which a workable camp routine had to be established,
he handled the situation skillfully. His whole aim was to
treat the prisoners in a way "calculated to make them less
restless in their confinement, and likely, when they returned
to their homes, to spread among their friends and acquaint-
ances the news that they had been deceived regarding north-
ern men."30

At this period no general rules for the supervision of
prisoners had been laid down. While Colonel Hoffman
pleaded that such matters be delegated exclusively to his de-
partment, the generals in the field continued to exercise a good
deal of authority over the movements of prisoners, and each
camp commandant set up his own disciplinary measures. A
few very general instructions regarding prisoners held in
Indiana were issued by Adjutant General Noble under order
of Governor Morton on February 24.31 Prisoners were to be

^Noble, A. G. O., Letter and Order Book No. 1, pp. 114, 118, 130; In-
dianapolis Journal, February 24, 1862, p. 3, c. 1-2; February 28, p. 3, c. 1;
Indianapolis Sentinel, February 24, 1862, p. 3, c. 2. Gresham's regiment,
with which the Sixty-second was consolidated, was ordered to join Halleck
on March 14, and Kidd's Battery followed on April 10. Noble, op. cit., pp.
169, 170, 190, 194, 197. A battalion of the Sixty-third Regiment, under
Lieutenant Colonel John S. Williams, and some companies from the Sixty-
first Regiment, under Colonel Bernard F. Mullen, which had been guarding
prisoners at Lafayette and Terre Haute respectively, took their places as
guards at Camp Morton, remaining until late in May, 1862. Terrell, Report,
II, 587, 595.

30Indianapolis Journal, April 17, 1862, p. 2, c. 1 ; April 21, p. 2, c. 1-2.

31Noble, A. G. O., Letter and Order Book No. 1, p. 131.

■

CAMP MORTON 263

thrown into their original company organizations, each com-
pany in charge of its highest noncommissioned officer, and
were to be subsisted in that order, receiving the same rations,
clothing, and equipment as Indiana troops. No communica-
tion with citizens was to be allowed. Finally, company rolls
were to be prepared. Beyond this, Owen had to formulate his
own rules. He drew up a humane and sensible code, much of
which was later incorporated into Hoffman's instructions to
all commandants of prisoners' camps.32

''Rules for Camp Morton.

"i. The entire camp prisoners will be divided into thirty
divisions, each under charge of a chief selected by the com-
panies composing the division from among the first sergeants
of companies. At the bugle call for first sergeants they will
report themselves at headquarters.

"2. These chiefs of divisions will draw up the provision
returns for their divisions, care for and be responsible for the
general appearance, police and welfare of their divisions. The
first fifteen will constitute a board of appeal for the hearing
of grievances, settlement and punishment of misdemeanors,
subject to the approval of the commander of the post in their
fifteen divisions. The other fifteen will form a like court for
the remaining fifteen divisions.

"3. Among the crimes and misdemeanors against which
first sergeants are expected to guard and which they will
punish on detection are counterfeiting the commandant's,
doctor's, adjutant's or chaplain's hands for requisitions, making
improper use of premises, refusing to take a reasonable share
in the details according to the roster, selling to the sutler any
articles issued to them as clothing, appropriating things belong-
ing to others or insulting sentinels.

"4. The prisoners' returns will be handed in for approval
at 10 a. m. each alternate day previous to the one on which the
issue is made. The issues of tobacco and stationery will be
made on Wednesdays and Saturdays at 2 p. m. by the chaplains,
as well as the distribution of reading matter. Letters will be

'i2Official Records, 2 series, III, 518-19.

264 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

given out between 2 and 3 p. m. and mailed between
3 and 4 p. m.

"5. Daily inspections will be made by the commandant or
officer of the day to see that the policing so essential to health
has been thoroughly performed, and facilities will be afforded
for sports and athletic exercise also conducive to health, as
well as bathing by companies, if permission can be obtained
from the proper authority.

"6. The first sergeants of companies will look after the
general wants of their companies and maintain the necessary
order, discipline and police essential to health and comfort,
and will make requisitions, first on chiefs of divisions, and
they afterwards at headquarters, for clothing, camp and gar-
rison equipage absolutely necessary; also for tobacco wanted,
and the like.

"7. The inside chain of soldiers, except a small patrol with
side-arms, will be removed, and the quiet and good order of
the camp as well as the policing for health and comfort, the
construction of new sinks when necessary and the daily throw-
ing in of lime and mold to prevent bad odors will be entirely
under the supervision of the sergeants of prisoners.

"8. Vessels for the washing of clothing and ropes for
clothes lines will be furnished, and no bed or other clothing
will be put on roof tops or on, fences.

"9. Prisoners will carefully avoid interrupting sentinels
in the discharge of their duty, and especially will not curse
them, use abusive language or climb onto fences or trees, as
the sentinels are ordered to fire if such an offense occurs after
three positive and distinct orders to desist, even in day time.
At night only one warning will be given to any one climbing
on the fence tops.

"10. A prisoners' fund will be created by the deduction as
heretofore of small amounts from the rations of beef, bread,
beans, &c, a schedule of which will be placed at the commis-
sary department. This fund will be used for the purchase of
tobacco, stationery, stamps and such other articles as the chiefs
of divisions may report, and which should be drawn on requisi-
tions handed in by first sergeants between 9 and 10 a. m.
each dav.

CAMP MORTON 265

"il. Every endeavor will be made by the commandant to
give each and every prisoner as much liberty and comfort as is
consistent with orders received and with an equal distribution
of the means at disposal, provided such indulgence never leads
to any abuse of the privileges."

These rules established virtual self-government among the
prisoners. They worked well, with occasional exceptions that
necessitated modifications and curtailments of privileges.
Sometimes the townspeople were inclined to criticize their lati-
tude, but they earned for Owen the undying gratitude of
many prisoners.

Company rolls remained a problem throughout the war. If
no muster roll came with the prisoners, new ones had to be
made immediately. They were called every morning.33 Some
of them were written on sheets of legal cap, pasted together in
long strips, and ruled off by hand into columns for name,
company, enlistment, time and place of joining, capture, trans-
fer, or death. The beginning of the roll might be handsomely
engrossed, but the handwriting was often illegible. Prisoners
who had crimes on their consciences and preferred not to be
traced sometimes gave false names. A spirit of mischief in-
duced others to offer ridiculous names, which got them into
trouble when exchange rolls were prepared. The chief diffi-
culty, of course, was due to transfers to hospitals and to deaths
among the prisoners.

Besides keeping the rolls for the camps the commandants
were requested toward the end of April, 1862, to send a com-
plete list to the Commissary General of Prisoners and monthly
reports thereafter. In spite of the fact that the rolls were
checked each morning, and that requisitions for rations were
also supposed to be checked against them, Owen reported that

33The Indianapolis Sentinel of February 28, 1862, p. 3, c. 3, announced
that rolls of all the prisoners had been made out and were in Owen's hands.
The morning roll call was handled as follows. Owen called the roll for one
of the thirty divisions of prisoners ; the chaplain, the ten first lieutenants
and the ten second lieutenants of his regiment each called one roll, taking
care of twenty-two divisions ; the rolls for the remaining divisions were called
by officers from assisting guard regiments. Owen to Morton, April 20, 1862,
Sixtieth Regiment Indiana Volunteers file, folder C, Archives Division,
Indiana State Library.

266 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

he had found enough discrepancies to necessitate a thorough
revision.34 No one ever did manage to have the rolls complete
and exact.

During the first rather disorganized months the noncom-
missioned Confederate officers in charge of companies were
almost as busy as the commandant. Besides requisitioning the
proper amount of rations, they had to divide them out fairly
among the men. The slightest partiality provoked a storm of
no mean proportions. There was inevitably one, or more, in each
group who stole from his comrades. Cooks had to stand guard
over provisions, and honest and hungry men formed the habit
of eating the whole day's ration as soon as it was received, or
of carrying it in their haversacks for safekeeping.35 Anyone
caught at petty thieving or similar misdemeanors was punished
by the prisoners themselves.

Criticism about rations had been bad enough when Indi-
ana recruits were trained at Camp Morton. Now they were
much worse. For example, the Southerners were accustomed
to lean bacon, and they complained at being supplied with bacon
that was fat, or at best had a streak of fat and a streak of
lean. They declared that the beef was all bone and the bread
all sour. For the time being, baker's bread of good quality
was served, for it was the cheapest way to provide bread for
the prisoners, but these southern boys wanted "good cawn
pone, with drippin's." The Sentinel suggested that the com-
missary department buy meal in the open market and furnish

SiOfficial Records, 2 series, III, 502, 515; IV, 152; Indianapolis Sentinel,
February 24, 1862, p. 3, c. 2. The Sentinel of March 17 (p. 1, c. 2-6), lists
the prisoners confined at Camp Morton, giving a total of 3,233. The issue
of March 18 (p. 3, c. 1) lists 278 prisoners at Terre Haute who were still to
be transferred to Camp Morton.

35 [S. A. Cunningham], Memorials: Col. Richard Owen, the Good Sa-
maritan of Camp Morton . . . (Nashville, Tenn., n. d.), p. 4. Quarrels over
the division of rations sometimes resulted in the death of a prisoner. On one
occasion a sergeant in charge of a division of prisoners was accused of
dividing rations unfairly. The sergeant punched his accuser with a stick of
firewood, whereupon the enraged man seized a club and knocked the sergeant
down, clubbing him so that he died in about six hours. Indianapolis Journal,
May 19, 1862, p. 3, c. 1; May 21, p. 3, c. 2; Indianapolis Sentinel, May 19,
1862, p. 3, c. 1 ; May 22, p. 3, c. 2. See also Confederate Veteran, XVI, xxxvi
(December, 1908).

CAMP MORTON 267

it to the men, but it was impossible to allow each boy to cook
his pone "the way it orter be."36

After Colonel Hoffman visited the camp early in March,
he proposed the erection of a camp bakehouse, a practical
suggestion that effected a large saving to the Government.
The great cost of prisoners' camps was a serious problem. The
sums involved seem small to us, but the citizen of 1862 was
more appalled by a national debt of one billion dollars than we
are by forty billion. The contractor for the camp was obliged
to buy a full army ration for every prisoner. A pound of flour
thus supplied would make almost a pound and a third of good
bread, and with the baking done in a camp bakehouse, the profit
would go to the camp and not to the baker.

Hoffman's suggestion was approved and he immediately
wrote to Captain Ekin for estimates on the cost of a bakehouse
large enough to bake for five thousand men. It was to con-
sist of a single large room with a floor, a shingle roof, and
walls of upright boarding battened. Later in the month he
directed that the commissary at the camp withhold any part
of the prisoners' rations which might be in excess of their
needs, and semimonthly pay to Colonel Owen the value of the
ration so retained. The fund thus accumulated was to be used
to purchase "brooms, buckets, table furniture" and other
articles for the prisoners, which would otherwise be an addi-
tional expense to the Government. The bakehouse went into
operation about the middle of April, and Ekin later reported
that the ovens were working well and that a fund of $2,400
had been accumulated by May i.37

Out of the fund were bought "tobacco, stationery, stamps,
wheel barrows and tools for policing, scissors for cutting the
hair, plank and nails for making bunks, lines for airing clothes,

36Indianapolis Journal, March 11, 1862, p. 3, c. 2 ; Indianapolis Sentinel,
February 28, 1862, p. 3, c. 1. The newspapers were not above poking fun
at this passionate attachment to corn pone. The Sentinel of March 8 (p. 2,
c. 4), quoted the suggestion of the Lafayette Journal that there was an
"inscrutable reason for compelling these maize-loving rebels to eat Northern
wheat bread," and that "with every mouthful ... the hungry rebel swallows
and incorporates in his treasonable system so much loyalty and patriotism."

"Official Records, 2 series, III, 349, 375, 386-87, 401, 432, 562; Indian-
apolis Journal, March 22, 1862, p. 3, c. 1 ; Terrell, Report, I, 449.

268 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

leather for mending shoes, thread for repairs, &c. ; also addi-
tional vegetables, such as potatoes and onions, and some extra
supplies of molasses."38

Hoffman had delegated control of the fund to Owen, with
instructions that strict account of expenditures be kept, with
the bills. Owen was doubtless too occupied with other business
of the camp to handle it himself, for Ekin wrote to Hoffman
on May 21 that a council of administration had been instituted
at Camp Morton, and had taken charge of the disbursements.
Ekin was excluded from this council. He was dissatisfied
with the arrangement, and asked that control of the fund be
placed in his hands, on the ground that various expenditures
which should be paid from it would not be made unless under
his direction. He promised he would always confer with
Owen and the post quartermaster, Lieutenant J. J. Palmer.39
It is likely that Hoffman and Ekin expected to take care of
more ambitious expenditures than those heretofore made from
the fund, and as Ekin's suggestion was later carried out, the
rapidly increasing sums were used to supplement the hospital
fund, for the erection of additional buildings, payment of
civilian employees, and the like.

To return to the chiefs of divisions : having served out
the food to the best of his ability, the sergeant in charge was
obliged to see that the clean straw supplied for the bunks was
equally apportioned. If left unguarded it had a way of dis-
appearing. Quantities of straw about the camp presented a
fire hazard that demanded unceasing vigilance; smoking was
restricted, for in a high wind a fire would have produced a
major tragedy. Company chiefs also had to detail men to
police the camp, and to act as hospital orderlies and as grave
diggers.

Reports about needed clothing also went through the
sergeant's hands. Prisoners were allowed to receive supplies
from home, but the garments sent were sometimes impractical.
The girl who sent her imprisoned boy friend a pair of em-
broidered slippers, for example, was not likely to keep his

380wen to Editor, Indianapolis Journal, April 18, 1862, in Official
Records, 2 series, III, 516. See also Owen's Rule 10, ante, p. 264.
'^Official Records, 2 series, III, 562-63.

CAMP MORTON 269

devotion. A pair of thick warm socks and a sweater would
have been welcome enough, but good saxony yarn was an
unknown quantity in the blockaded South, and such gifts were
out of the question.40

The intention of the Federal Government to issue clothing
and blankets when needed is clear, but in practice these good
intentions were only partially fulfilled. Prisoners received
clothing which had been furnished to the United States by
contractors and condemned by government inspectors. It
sometimes happened that the condemned articles were not those
most needed in the prison camps, or that shipments were de-
layed— transportation constituted a big expense and shipments
to troops in the field were given preference.41

At Camp Morton, though blankets were issued to the
prisoners who had none,42 a sudden drop in temperature caused
extreme suffering among men unaccustomed to a northern
climate. The Ladies Patriotic Societies and the Sanitary
Commission responded generously to calls for assistance,
and during 1862 the prisoners made few complaints of
poor treatment.

Would-be visitors made their appearance before the
prisoners were fairly settled. Governor Morton ruled im-
mediately that there was to be no communication between citi-
zens or guards and camp inmates, and Owen enforced the rule.
A notice of the regulation was sent to the Louisville Journal
on February 26 ; nevertheless many Kentuckians made the long
hard trip to Indianapolis in the hope of seeing their relatives
or friends. Neither masculine indignation nor feminine wiles
succeeded in getting them into camp. This rule, harsh as it
must have seemed in many cases, tended to prevent unrest
among the prisoners, and Captain Ekin commended it highly
to Secretary of War Stanton. Adjutant General Noble at the

"For the effect of the blockade on the South, see J. B. Jones, A Rebel
War Clerk's Diary at the Confederate States Capital (2 volumes. Phila-
delphia, J. B. Lippincott & Co., 1866).

"Official Records, 2 series, III, 316-17, 335-36. It should be remembered
that the Federal Government had no intention of supplying clothes that would
be convertible into Confederate uniforms, should prisoners be exchanged.

"Ekin to Governor Morton, February 24, 1862, Executive Department
file, 109.9, J86i.

270 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

same time protested against the laxity at Camp Chase, where
"avowedly disloyal" visitors were admitted. The result was
a tightening of restrictions in other camps, and commendation
of the discipline at Camp Morton.43

Communication by mail was not cut off. Prisoners could
write home — the newspapers asked for donations of stamps
for the prisoners' mail — and letters, money, clothing, and other
donations were allowed to enter the camp after proper inspec-
tion. Assistant Adjutant General James Wilson handled this
for a time,44 but by the middle of March, 1862, censorship and
inspection duties were taking the entire time of two important
officers, and Colonel Owen appealed to Governor Morton for
someone who could take charge of the post office and inspect
presents for the prisoners.45 Abel Evans was thereupon ap-
pointed special postmaster for Camp Morton to take charge of
all mail. After carefully inspecting the letters written, Evans
endorsed each envelope "prisoner's letter," "inspected," signed
it, mailed all that were within the Union lines and returned
the rest to the Adjutant General's office to be forwarded under
a flag of truce. Likewise, he took charge of all letters for
prisoners arriving by mail or otherwise, and inspected them
before delivering them.46

Letters were given out between two and three o'clock in the
afternoon and could be mailed out between three and four.47
To reduce the great labor of inspection an order was issued at
this time that prisoners might write only to relatives and im-
mediate friends. Evidently the request was not obeyed, for
nearly a month later, Adjutant General Noble sent Colonel
Owen a number of copies of the order to distribute "freely"
among the prisoners. He said that he, himself, had burned a
number of letters from four to eight pages long, and that half

43Noble, A. G. O., Letter and Order Book No. 1, p. 131 ; Indianapolis
Journal, February 25, 1862, p. 3, c. 2; March 17, p. 3, c. 1 ; Official Records,
2 series, III, 411, 412.

^Indianapolis Journal, February 27, 1862, p. 3, c. 2 ; March 17, p. 3, c. 2.

45Richard Owen file, March 13, 1862, Archives Division, Indiana State
Library.

46Noble, A. G. O., Letter and Order Book No. 1, p. 172. See also Con-
federate Veteran, II, 115 (April, 1894), VI, 583 (January, 1898).

"Ante, pp. 263-64.

CAMP MORTON 271

of them or more, were to mere acquaintances and of little
importance. Evans was expected to reject and destroy this
kind. A Federal order issued later in the summer and sent
to all camps, limited letters to one page only, the contents to
be of a strictly private nature.48

The censor's task was not always dull. The following lines
from a southern girl to "Dear John" at Camp Morton were
published in the Indianapolis Journal and copied in papers
throughout the country:49 "I will be for Jeffdavise til the
tenisee river freazes over, and then be for him, and scrach
on the ice

"Jeffdavise rides a white horse,
Lincoln rides a mule,
Jeffdavise is a gentleman,
Lincoln is a fule.

"I wish I could send them lincon devels some pies, they
would never want any more to eat in this world."

All material contributed to the camp locally, such as news-
papers and books, had to be examined for fear that weapons
or tools might be concealed between the leaves. Packages sent
to the prisoners from home were carefully examined by the
censor and contraband materials taken out. Jellies and other
delicacies were confiscated for hospital use.50

For a time, money which the prisoners brought with them,
or which they received while at camp, seems to have been
entirely at their disposal.51 But because attempts at bribery
were suspected, or because officials thought too much money
was going into the hands of the camp sutler, General Noble
decreed on May 2, 1862, that no money should be delivered to
prisoners except through the commandant's hands, that no
prisoners receive more than a dollar or two a week for neces-
saries, and that any funds remaining to a prisoner's credit

48Indianapolis Journal, March 19, 1862, p. 3, c. 3 ; Noble, A. G. O.,
Letter and Order Book No. 1, pp. 172, 205 ; Official Records, 2 series, IV, 153.

"Indianapolis Journal, May 6, 1862, p. 3, c. 2.

50 Indiana Soldier, 1, 319.

51The Indianapolis Journal, April 8, 1862, p. 3, c. 4, mentions "about
$6,000 received lately, and distributed among the rebel prisoners at Camp
Morton." The Journal surmised that most of this money, sent by relatives
in Kentucky and Tennessee, went into the sutlers' pockets.

272 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

should be held by the commandant, to be doled out in
small quantities.52

Unauthorized sutlers thronged to every training camp and
prison. They had to be watched continually to prevent sale of
contraband, and to protect the prisoners from being over-
charged. At some camps they became very wealthy, but
regulatory precautions were taken early at Camp Morton.
There were doubtless some unauthorized venders of goods
about, and the regimental sutlers attached to the Sixtieth and
Fifty-third Regiments probably supplied the camp to some
extent, but shortly after the arrival of the first prisoners,
Governor Morton appointed a post sutler, Nathan Crawford.
Prisoners' purchases of small articles were supposed thereafter
to be made through him. Much friction attended the attempt
to prevent sutlers from competing, and nothing but threat of
arrest was effective in keeping them away from camp.53

Owen evidently considered literary works outside the sut-
lers' line. At any rate he allowed William Gibson and a
"Mr. Keatting" to sell books and periodicals in the camp, de-
fending the procedure as "beneficial to the Prisoners by
keeping them occupied & contented." He also secured several
hundred books for them from the superintendent of pub-
lic instruction.54

When free men constantly chafe against restrictions, how
much more likely that prisoners of war, humiliated by their
capture and depressed by hardships and illness should fret
against camp discipline. In spite of their labors at policing,
"KP" duty, and at the hospitals and cemeteries, the prisoners
had many empty hours which Owen gave them every latitude
in filling with such amusements as they could devise.

Fraternal organizations such as the Masons and Odd
Fellows, sent a friendly greeting to prisoner members, and
groups from these orders were allowed to meet at the camp
in what had once been the headquarters of the Board of

"Noble, A. G. O., Letter and Order Book No. i, p. 225.
"Ibid., pp. 157, 553, 556.

"Memorandum, April 26, 1862, Richard Owen file, Archives Division,
Indiana State Library; Indianapolis Sentinel, April 11, 1862, p. 3, c. 1.

CAMP MORTON 273

Agriculture. 55 Prisoners with anxious mothers or sweethearts
could have their pictures taken at Mr. Charles D. Vajen's
"Daguerrian or Photographic establishment." This was
authorized in March. Vajen was allowed to employ only two
assistants, the three of them being commanded to have no
intercourse with the prisoners beyond what was demanded by
their business, and to carry no letters or messages.56 The
stream of daguerreotypes that flowed from Camp Morton to
Kentucky, Tennessee, and Mississippi must have carried com-
fort to the folks at home, no matter how blurry the print or
how stary-eyed the subject.

Music was another palliative. Though camp regulations
discouraged the prisoners from congregating in groups of
more than two or three, especially at night, they were allowed
to form more than one glct club, and a band of Ethiopian
minstrels gave concerts now and then. On one occasion the
prisoners serenaded the officers with "Dixie" and a collection
of other secession songs. A few weeks later, the band of the
United States Regulars gave a concert at the camp. We have
no record of their program, but it must have been chosen with
extreme care, for according to the Sentinel it "enlivened the
hearts of both prisoners and citizens."07 Besides the singers
there were some fair actors in the camp, who were allowed to
arrange dramatic entertainments for the hospitals. One is
said to have taken the oath of allegiance, become a member
of the old Metropolitan Company, and remained in Indianapolis
for years after the war.58

In the big central area of the camp ball games were per-
mitted. Another great resource of the prisoner was whittling.
Thousands of handmade souvenirs still exist : pipe bowls of
many materials, brooches cut from beef bones, and puzzles
of the common sort were made in quantity; rings whittled

^Ibid., February 24, 1862, p. 3, c. 2 ; Indianapolis Journal, July 28, 1862,
P- 3, c. 1.

66Noble, A. G. O., Letter and Order Book Xo. 1, p. 173.

"Indianapolis Sentinel, March 26, 1862, p. 3, c. 1 ; May 13, p. 3, c. 1 ;
Indianapolis Journal, July 28, p. 3, c. 1.

^Indianapolis News, February 24, 1897, p. 6, c. 2.

274 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

from rubber buttons and inlaid with silver stars cut from dimes
were fashionable; others were carved out of cannel coal.59

Unfortunately a brisk contraband trade in these articles
developed through the newsboys who entered the camp. Worse
still was the fact that the prisoners had been allowed to keep
the knives with which they whittled, and even old pistols of the
heirloom variety. This gave rise in May to rumors that a
great number of "arms" had been smuggled to the prisoners.
Regretfully Owen ordered these sorry weapons turned in.
They were delivered promptly — some forty or fifty "antique,
half-cocked and empty pistols" and about three times as many
knives. Each article, carefully labeled with its owner's name,
was put away to be redelivered when the prisoners were ex-
changed or liberated. The Sentinel commented tartly: "it
indicates a singular want of confidence, on the part of
any portion of the community, in Col. Owen, who has
proved himself a most able and vigilant officer, to inti-
mate that his vigilance could permit arms to be smuggled
into Camp Morton."60

There had been some criticism of Owen's leniency before
this date. It had been his practice to allow prisoners to visit
their comrades in the hospital. The privilege was extended
"to permit some of the sergeants of Prisoners to make a few
purchases under the charge of officers who pledged themselves
that there should be no interviews."61 On April 15 a little
group started for the business district. They made purchases
here and there, then, unluckily for themselves, their fellow
prisoners, and Owen, part of them stopped at a saloon and
"imbibed freely." Worse still, they bootlegged liquor back to
camp, and by night some of the prisoners were so exhilarated
that they threw stones and beef bones at the sergeant of the
guard. One of the guards was sent posthaste for Owen, but
before he could return a well-aimed beef bone knocked the
sergeant off his feet. Without waiting for Owen's counsel,

^"Treatment of Prisoners at Camp Morton," Century Magazine, XLII,
770 (September, 1891).

60Indianapolis Sentinel, May 31, 1862, p. 3, c. 2.

G1Owen to Morton, April 16, 1862, in Sixtieth Regiment Indiana Volun-
teers file, folder C.

CAMP MORTON 275

he ordered his men to fire. Four men were injured, two
slightly, and two so seriously that they had to be sent to the
hospital next day. The battery of artillery which commanded
the camp, alarmed by the firing within the wall, hastily fired
a round of blank cartridges. Presumably this and Owen's
appearance settled the camp for the night, but the episode was
not closed. Governor Morton called for an explanation, and
both Sentinel and Journal wanted to know how such a situa-
tion could arise.62

Owen wrote to the Governor on April 16. He told under
what instructions the expedition had been allowed and an-
nounced the suspension of similar privileges in future. He had
not been able to discover which men threw rocks at the guard,
but said that the prisoners had "promised to bring them to
speedy punishment (saying that hanging was too good for
them)." He intimated that if the Governor disapproved of
the system adopted or knew of someone who could carry out
his views better, "the officers & Soldiers of the Sixtieth would
feel grateful for the change.,, He called attention to the high
mortality among his overworked men, and mentioned that he
had been informed there was no prospect of his receiving any
pay for the past six months' services.63

Two days later he wrote to the Journal at greater length,
setting forth his aims, the general system of the camp, and
the unending demands on himself and his men. "I have never
spent one night from camp since I was ordered here," he
wrote, "nor entered a hotel or saloon since my arrival. After
a heavy day's work, I sometimes, at night, retire to my camp
cot, without divesting myself of either coat or boots, in order
to be ready at the slightest noise for my responsible and
onerous duties." He called attention with justifiable pride to
the small number of escapes from the camp proper, only 13
out of 4,200 prisoners, part of whom had been recaptured
and brought back.64

"Indianapolis Journal, April 17, 1862, p. 2, c. 1 ; Indianapolis Sentinel,
April 17, 1862, p. 3, c. 2; Noble, A. G. O., Letter and Order Book No. 1,
p. 204.

63Sixtieth Regiment Indiana Volunteers file, folder C.

84Indianapolis Journal, April 21, 1862, p. 2, c. 1-2.

276 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Another well-intentioned concession to the prisoners re-
sulted in much the same way. As the days grew warmer,
squads of prisoners were taken daily to Fall Creek, under
guard, for bathing. On a day in June a party of five or six
inveigled their guards into allowing an examination of their
new Enfield rifles. The guards were overpowered in a flash,
and the prisoners proceeded southward.65

Prisoners acting as hospital orderlies sometimes succeeded
in slipping away, as the hospital guards were few. It was not
so easy to get away from Camp Morton. Captain Kidd's Bat-
tery of Light Artillery deserved part of the credit for this. As
a reassurance to the citizens or a warning to the prisoners —
perhaps both — the Sentinel announced immediately after the
arrival of the first Confederates that the battery was stationed
''about Camp Morton, commanding every entrance and exit
and all the buildings and every acre for miles around."66 There
were sentries on the wall and, for a time at least, a chain of
guards stationed inside it. These were later reduced to small
patrols with side arms. Sentinels were ordered to fire at any
prisoner who persisted in ignoring three "positive and distinct"
orders to desist from a violation of rules, such as climbing
on the fence. At night only one order was required.67

Toward the end of March, a prisoner was wounded while
attempting to pass the guard. A few days later Governor
Morton appointed a special officer to arrest and bring back
escaped prisoners; and the same day word went to the camp:
that all recaptured prisoners would be sent to the Marion
County jail for close confinement in irons.68 The jail was not
popular. Six prisoners inhabiting that "low and degraded
Den' asked for a minister of the gospel to sing and pray with
them. One of the signers was a George McCormick, whose
mess mates later petitioned that he might be allowed to return

65Indianapolis Sentinel, May 16, 1862, p. 3, c. 2; June 14, p. 3, c. 1 ;
Madison Courier (daily), June 16, 1862, p. 2, c. 1.

""Indianapolis Sentinel, February 24, 1862, p. 3, c. 2.

67Rule 9, ante, p. 264.

68Indianapolis Journal, April 1, 1862, p. 3, c. 3 ; Noble, A. G. O., Letter
and Order Book No. 1, pp. 195, 196.

CAMP MORTON

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Camp Morton, 1862, adapted from map by E. S. Thrall, Sixtieth Regi-
ment Indiana Volunteers. 1. Entrance. 2. Officer of gate. 3. Drummers.
4. Barber. 5. Picture gallery. 6. Majors. 7. Chaplain. 8. Steward. 9,
Colonel. 10. Magazine. 11. Stable. 12. Wagon master. 13. Gate.
14-16. Barracks. 17. Commissary, 60th Regiment. 18. Bakery. 19. Stable.
20. Gate. 21. Commissary, 63d Regiment. 22-22,. Prisoners' tents, shed.
24. Preacher's stand (Parson Brownlow). 25. Surgeon. 26. Sutler. 27. Pic-
ture car. 28. Post office. 29. Barracks. 30. Doctor. 31. Hospital tent.
32. Receiving hospital. 33. Dispensary. 34. Prisoners' tent. 35-39. Bar-
racks 1-5. + Sentinels. Guard companies, unless otherwise indicated,
belonged to the 60th Regiment. Batteries were Captain Coulson's, Captain
Xicklin's, and Captain Von Schlen's.

278 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

to camp, to share their "comparatively light imprisonment."69

About this time the guards were issued revolvers in
addition to the usual arms, to be used in case of attempted
prison breaks. Kidd's Battery was withdrawn in the middle of
April, and this fact may have stimulated in the prisoners new
hopes of escape. Following rumors of an intended stam-
pede, the sentinels were doubled, and the patrols inside
the camp increased.70

Accidents happened, with the camp full of unrest and the
guards tense and nervous. One Sunday night about nine
o'clock, one of the prisoners mounted a rise in the grounds
from which he could see over the wall. He was hailed by
the sentry and ordered to move. But the guard was being
changed, and in the clatter of orders, the prisoner, as he
explained later, did not hear the sentinel's challenge. He did
not move, and the sentry fired, wounding him slightly. The
man was a Baptist preacher. His statement that he had no
intention of disobeying an order was believed, and he escaped
the further misery of being dragged off to jail. In spite of
the tightened discipline, a prisoner occasionally escaped, or was
wounded in the attempt.71

One nineteen-year-old youth tried to escape in women's
clothes. Said the Sentinel, directing its sarcasm impartially at
guards and prisoner : "He was not shot at, for a wonder, but
came down to the valiant sentinel voluntarily. He cut an
excellent figure the next morning as he was led to jail personat-
ing a beautiful and blushing secession damsel."72

Camp discipline was badly strained on one occasion when
Governor Morton brought a visitor to address the men. The

""Petitions of April 25 and May 28, 1862, to Governor Morton, Executive
Department file, 109.9, 1861, Archives Division, Indiana State Library. By
June 3, there were eighteen recaptured prisoners in the jail. Indianapolis
Journal, June 3, 1862, p. 3, c. 1. See also the Sentinel, May 21, 1862, p. 3,
c. 2.

70Noble, A. G. O., Letter and Order Book No. 1, pp. 198, 212.

"Indianapolis Journal, April 30, 1862, p. 3, c. 2 ; May 6, p. 3, c. 3 ; June
2, p. 3, c. 1 ; Indianapolis Sentinel, April 11, 1862, p. 3, c. 1 ; May 6, p. 3, c. 1 ;
Confederate Veteran, V, 15 (January, 1897) ; VI, 537 (November, 1*
XXXV, 456-60 (December, 1927).

"Indianapolis Sentinel, June 7, 1862, p. 3, c. 1.

CAMP MORTON 279

Reverend William G. Brownlow, a violently Unionist minister
and newspaper editor of Knoxville, Tennessee, was thoroughly
detested by the Confederates. To dispose of him, they sent
him within the Union lines in the spring of 1862. He began
a series of lectures in the northern states, reaching Indianapolis
in April. A speech from Parson Brownlow was more than
the "obstreperous and unrepentant" Kentuckians could bear.
They jeered and shouted, called him "the old traitor," and
begged to have him put out.73

A constant grievance with the prisoners was the epithet
"rebel." When the Journal capped this by referring to some of
them as "rowdy rebels," they promptly invited the editor to
visit the camp, promising a "cord-is\ reception."74

Even when the prisoners were not trying to escape or
booing distinguished visitors, they could make a guard's life
miserable. Keeping always on the alert, watching and listen-
ing, wearied the nerves. It amused the prisoners to start
rumors — analogous to the ghost stories of civilian life — filled
with references to plans for escape. Or they would entertain
themselves by mimicking the cries of men in pain or delirium.
Their success in annoying the sentries accounts for the
story, probably apocryphal, that a home guard, on the
night of an eclipse, fired at his own shadow, mistaking it
for a rebel prisoner.75

During the first weeks, the guards ploughed their beats in
mud "shoe-mouth" deep. As a preventive to sickness, the
Adjutant General arranged for the laying of walks, and asked
for some Sibley tents with floors and stoves.76 A house for
the guards on duty was later built outside the wall, and paid
for from the prisoners' fund.77 Their regular quarters lay

^Confederate Veteran, XVIII, 334 (July, 1910) ; Indianapolis Journal,
April 9, 1862, p. 3, c. 1.

nIbid., April 29, 1862, p. 3, c. 2.

75Ibid., June 14, 1862, p. 3, c. 1.

76Noble, A. G. O., Letter and Order Book No. 1, pp. 148, 149-50; Indian-
apolis Journal, March 9, 1862, p. 3, c. 2. A Sibley tent when pitched was about
twelve feet high, conical, and would accommodate twenty men for sleeping
purposes. Annals of the Fifty-Seventh Regiment Indiana Volunteers . . .
(Dayton, Ohio, 1868), p. 20.

^Official Records, 2 series, III, 621.

280 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

south of Camp Morton between Nineteenth and Tinker (now
Sixteenth) streets, and came to be known as Camp Burnside.78

Owen's force was not large in proportion to the number
of men to be guarded. His regiment was not at full strength
when he was summoned to Indianapolis in February, and he
continued recruiting in addition to all his duties as commandant
at Camp Morton. None of the organizations which assisted
the Sixtieth — the Fiftv-third, and Kidd's Batterv of Lighl
Artillery, succeeded by a battalion from the Sixty-third Regi-
ment and some companies from the Sixty-first — remained at
the camp for any length of time. On May 4, 1862, Owen
called Colonel Hoffman's attention to the fact that he was
guarding over four thousand men with a minimum regiment
and 207 men from another, while at Camp Chase there were
two regiments to guard about a thousand prisoners.79 The
men were overworked, and the death rate among them was as
high as among the regiments in the field.80

One of Owen's duties was the examination of petitions on
behalf of the prisoners.81 Their variety was astonishing,
though most of them had the same basic purpose, to secure a
release or parole. Unionist fathers from Kentucky and Ten-
nessee asked the release of their sons, offering security for
their conduct during the remainder of the war. The com-
mander of a force of Federal soldiers which had captured a
group of young Confederates from the same county, wrote
that the prisoners were truly repentant and requested their
parole. An Indianan told how his brother had been persuaded
to leave home, how he had gone to Arkansas, started home-
ward, and on the way had been impressed into the Confederate
Army at Memphis.

Some petitioners were modest in their requests : for ex-
ample, a Kentuckian asked only that his nephew be transferred

78"01dfish on Memorials," in Indianapolis News, August 15, 1913, p. 6,
c 5-

"Official Records, 2 series, III, 515.

S0Owen to Morton, April 16, 1862, Sixtieth Regiment Indiana Volunteers
file, folder C ; Report from City Hospital, Indianapolis Journal, April 29,
1862, p. 3, c. 3 : Official Records, 2 series, III, 515.

slThere are three folders of these petitions in the Archives Division, In-
diana State Library, Executive Department file. 109.9, 186 1.

CAMP MORTON 281

from prison quarters at St. Louis to join his comrades at
Camp Morton. At the other extreme was the gentleman who
confided to Governor Morton that he wanted his son released.
but hoped to have him stay in school at Indianapolis for two
years ; he asked that the Governor would help him find a good
hoarding place. Occasionally people wrote protesting against
a release or calling attention to some prisoner who had deserted
the Union forces to join the South.

Petitions from the prisoners show an equal variety. Re-
quests for full or limited parole often followed some family
catastrophe, children left helpless, a sick sister, a dying wife
or mother. Wounds and ailments induced others to apply for
parole or discharge, and physicians and comrades frequently
joined forces to help these cases. We have no record of the
action taken on the majority of these appeals. In one case,
Adjutant General Noble instructed Owen to release a boy who
had been impressed into service, and since the Government
made no arrangement for transportation in such instances, he
suggested turning the boy loose, with a note recommending
him to the charity of railroad and steamboat lines.82

Among the more unusual petitions is one from a Scot who
had lost his job in the South and entered the army in despera-
tion. He asked to be released to return to Scotland. A
German, also, in platelike script begged to be freed to return
to the Fatherland. One curious case involved a free colored
man and his nephew who had been arrested for aiding the
rebels. Some of the petitioners were willing to use any means
to help themselves. One man asked Owen if he could not be
got off "without exciting any suspicion," and four members
of a fraternal organization to which he belonged, promised
never to tell if Owen could manage their discharge.

Some of the petitions show how successfully Owen had
preached his doctrine that the Union was worth preserving. A
private from Tennessee wrote to Morton : "I thought that
I was fighting enimies but I am sadly mistaken." Numbers
of Tennesseans asserted that they had been forced into service.
"I was always a union man and am one til yet," wrote one of

"Letter of March 19, 1862, Noble, A. G. O., Letter and Order Book No.
1, p. 174.

282 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

this group to Owen. "I voted against the stait going out all
the time I had nothinge to Doo with the rebelyan from the
first to the last and when Harris made his last cal for thirty
thousand troups theay Drafted me in the sirvise. ... I want
your advice what to do." Fear of the three-year draft induced
numbers of Union sympathizers who could not go North to
enlist for one year as volunteers. The idea of abolition was
still abhorrent to most of the prisoners, however, and one man
spoke for many of his comrades when he said : "I am
a union man that is to say I am not an abolitionist by
any means whatever."

Petitions from individuals and groups of prisoners asking
to take the oath of allegiance began as early as March, 1862,83
and increased as rumors of a general exchange seeped through
the camp. The writers suffered considerably from the resent-
ment of their secessionist fellows, and one, who went so far
as to write a pro-Union article for the Journal, found the
prisoners particularly hot against him. A loyal Pennsylvanian
was lodged for a time in the city jail on suspicion of being a
spy. When it seemed probable to the authorities that he would
be able to establish his standing as a Union man, they trans-
ferred him to the less uncomfortable camp to wait until the
case was decided ; soon they had to transfer him back, jail prov-
ing less unendurable than the jeers and taunts of the prisoners.

While Camp Morton was settling into comparative serenity,
and good feeling grew between the prisoners and the authorities
in this little backwater, the main current of war rolled heavily
along. In May, 1862, Washington was thrown into a panic
by the repeated thrusts of the Confederates, and Morton was
called upon for more troops. Brigadier General G. W. Morgan
was asking at the same time for troops to be used against
John Morgan. On May 12 Governor Morton's secretary
telegraphed Morgan that he had scarcely enough infantry to
guard the prisoners. Ten days later he suggested to Stanton
that if "the rebels" could be sent to Sandusky and Columbus,
a good regiment would be ready for immediate service. This

83Petitions in Executive Department file, 109.9, 1861, Archives Division,
Indiana State Library; Indianapolis Journal, March II, 1862, p. 3, c. 2; March
12, p. 3, c. 1 ; March 27, p. 3, c. 1.

CAMP MORTON 283

regiment was of course Owen's Sixtieth. On May 26 orders
came for the regiment to be sent to Halleck, and calls were
hurriedly sent out for companies of three-months men to
guard Camp Morton.84

Colonel Hoffman hated to see the efficient organization at
Indianapolis disturbed. He visited Camp Morton toward the
end of May and expressed himself as highly pleased with the
manner in which the prisoners were kept, and with the man-
agement of the finance, quartermaster's, and subsistence de-
partments.85 Although authorized to retain the commanders
of Camps Douglas and Morton temporarily, he realized the
objections to detaching a colonel from his regiment, and did
not try to hold Owen, but he did ask that Lieutenant John J.
Palmer, able post quartermaster at Camp Morton, be allowed to
remain. Morton, far more interested in keeping the regiment
intact, denied having authority to detail Palmer for such duty,
and sent him along with Owen.86

The news that Owen had been ordered into active service
was received by the prisoners with apprehension. There is
some evidence that they thought his removal was hastened by
the consideration he had shown them. They addressed the
following petition to the Governor :87

"Knowing that it is a matter of state pride with your
Excellency that prisoners of war sent to Indiana should remain
quietly until satisfactory arrangements can be made for their
release, and believing that this object can better be attained by
the 60th regiment being retained in their present situation than
by any change, we respectfully solicit your Excellency, if not

8401iver P. Morton, Telegraphic Correspondence, February 5-June 10,
1862, pp. 240, 241, 243, 255, 259, 262, 263, 273, 274, 278, 279, 289.

b5Indianapolis Journal, June 4, 1862, p. 3, c. 1.

86Lorenzo Thomas to Hoffman, June 13, 1862, Official Records, 2 series,
IV, 15; Hoffman to Morton, June 26, 1862, in Sixtieth Regiment Indiana
Volunteers file, folder A, Archives Division, Indiana State Library ; Morton
to Hoffman, June 28, 1862, in Morton Letter Book, June 23, 1862-January
17, 1863, pp. 21-22.

870wen to Morton, May 29, 1862, Richard Owen file, Archives Division,
Indiana State Library. The petition is printed in the Indianapolis Journal,
May 31, 1862, p. 2, c. 1. The original is in the Oliver Perry Morton special
file, Archives Division.

284 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

inconsistent with the interests to which you are pledged, that
you will permit the same regiment still to remain in command
of Camp Morton feeling that while true to their Government
and strictly carrying out all the regulations of your Excellency,
they have combined therewith the humanity and kindness we
so highly appreciate. As an inducement to grant our request
we pledge ourselves that we will conform to the prescribed
rules and regulations adopted by your Excellency for our obser-
vation and safekeeping, and you will never have cause to repent
your having granted us this favor."

The need for experienced troops outweighed any other con-
sideration at the moment, and the only result of the petition was
to put on record the devotion which Owen had inspired. He
and his regiment left Indianapolis for Louisville on June 20. 88
They were sent to Lebanon, and from there to Munfordville,
Kentucky. There, in September, the Union forces were sur-
rounded by General Braxton Bragg's army, and Owen was
captured with part of his regiment. His generosity to the Fort
Donelson prisoners was promptly repaid. General Buckner,
by this time exchanged and again in service, thanked the
Colonel for his kindness to prisoners at Camp Morton and
returned his side arms. The men of the Sixtieth Indiana were
greeted with equal friendliness by their former prisoners and
joined in the jokes on the vicissitudes of war.89

A further tribute from southern prisoners to Colonel Owen
is the bronze bust in the main- floor corridor of the State
House at Indianapolis. More than one memorial to this man
exists, but only this one is connected with Camp Morton.
S. A. Cunningham, for many years editor of the Confederate
Veteran, conceived the idea,90 and received permission in 191 1
to place a bronze memorial tablet somewhere in Indianapolis.
Contributions to the project were so generous that the bronze
bust illustrated opposite page 262 was substituted for the tablet.

s8Noble, A. G. O., Letter and Order Book No. 1, pp. 282, 287, 294.

89Indianapolis Sentinel, October 4, 1862, p. 3, c. 2 ; Official Records, 1
series, XIX, pt. 1, pp. 959 ff. ; N. H. Winchell, A Sketch of Richard Owen
(reprint from American Geologist, September, 1890), p. 137.

90 [Cunningham], Memorials . . ., pp. 1-3 1.

CAMP MORTON 285

It was beautifully designed by Belle Kinney, daughter of a Con-
federate soldier, and bears a heartwarming inscription :

COLONEL RICHARD OWEN

COMMANDANT

CAMP MORTON PRISON 1862

Tribute by Confederate prisoners

of war and their friends

for his courtesv and kindness.

III. David Garland Rose : Exchanges and Paroles, 1862

Camp Morton was in a bustle of reorganization from the
last week in May, 1862, until the middle of June. Like
a magician suddenly called upon to pull a rabbit from a hat,
Governor Morton was expected to provide a new commandant .
and to recruit, organize, muster in, and administer a little
rudimentary training to a new force of guards.

His choice for commandant was David Garland Rose,
United States marshal for Indiana since 1861. Rose had
served as special aide to Morton in connection with relief work
among soldiers in Missouri. Because there was some fear that
his appointment as commandant at Camp Morton might vacate
or interfere with his Federal office as marshal, the position
of commandant was offered to Colonel John L. Mansfield of
Jefferson County on June 7. Mansfield, engaged with
General Love in organizing the Indiana Legion, declined.
Morton then appealed to President Lincoln to arrange matters
to permit Rose's appointment at Camp Morton. He was
mustered in as colonel of the Fifty-fourth Indiana Vol-
unteers, in charge of the camp, on June 19.1 L. Gilbert
Knox was appointed lieutenant colonel, and William C. Lup-
ton post quartermaster.2

In the meantime, Adjutant General Noble had been busy
assembling a guard from the Indiana Legion. General Orders
No. 38, issued on May 28, 1862, asked for fifteen hundred
men, organized in companies of not less than sixty-seven, for
four-months service. They were to be mustered into United
States service, and receive the same pay and allowance as
United States volunteers. This order was superseded on
June 2 by General Orders No. 41, which shortened the

1Terrell, Report, II, xi, 533 ; Morton, Telegraphic Correspondence,
February 5-June 10, 1862, pp. 298, 308, 312; ibid., June 11-July 31, 1862, pp.
14, 26.

'Terrell, Report, II, 533.

(286)

CAMP MORTON 287

period of service and made some other modifications in
the original order.3

Among the first replacements to reach Camp Morton were
three Legion companies from Jefferson County. The men
in one of these companies had volunteered unanimously, leaving
their farms to look after themselves. Volunteers came from
all sections of the state. By the end of the first week in June
over four hundred had been sworn in for three-months service,
and there were half as many more waiting for their companies
to be completed. Some of the recruits went into the Fifty-
fourth Regiment, under Colonel Rose, some into the Fifty-
fifth, under Colonel John R. Mahan. Most of the Fifty-fourth
remained at Camp Morton until August; seven companies of
the Fifty-fifth were sent to Kentucky in July, and another call
went out for replacements at the prisoners' camp. The new
men were called for thirty days only.4

Continuous shifting of the guard companies caused some
confusion at the camp. Lack of experience among the men
caused more. They were unaccustomed to strict discipline ;
some of them were so awkward with firearms that they
wounded themselves. Many of them worried about the fields
left untended at home, and because a good harvest was im-
portant, they were allowed ten-day furloughs — in relays — to
bring in the crops.5

Governor Morton, trying to supply troops for active service
to meet the heavy demands in June and July, resented the tying
up of more than a thousand men at Camp Morton, and tele-
graphed for permission to distribute the prisoners among the
camps in Illinois and Ohio. He might have been allowed to

3Indianapolis Sentinel, May 31, 1862, p. 3, c. 1 ; June 3, p. 3, c. 2.

*Terrell, Report, I, 129, 131-34; Report of Major-General Love, of the
Indiana Legion, 1861-62 (Indianapolis, 1863), pp. 6-7, 55, 57, 59; Morton,
Telegraphic Correspondence, February 5-June 10, 1862, pp. 278, 290; ibid.,
June ir-July 31, 1862, pp. 84-107 passim, 142; Madison Courier (daily),
May 29, June 7, June 14, July 7, July 14, 1862; Indianapolis Journal, June 18,
1862, p. 3, c. 1; July 4, p. 3, c. 4; July 14, p. 3, c. 5 ; Indianapolis Sentinel,
July 18, 1862, p. 3, c. 3.

'Ibid., July 6, 1862, p. 3, c. 1 ; Noble, A. G. O., Letter and Order Book
No. 1, p. 348.

288 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

do this had not the plans for a general exchange intervened.6
Under Colonel Rose, a cold militarism gradually sup-
planted the paternalistic camp administration which had been
cultivated by Owen. Some of the prisoners disliked the new
commandant intensely, and in after years had a tendency to
attribute to Owen's regime any pleasant occurrence at Camp
Morton. For example, the following incident, which, if it
happened at all, happened after Rose took charge, was related
in the Confederate Veteran as evidence of Owen's magna-
nimity. On July 3, 1862, a canard spread through central
Indiana that McClellan had gained a great victory, that Lee's
army was routed, and that Federal troops were in possession
of Richmond. There was great rejoicing in Indianapolis — il-
luminations, speechmaking, and vociferous cheering. The
prisoners were well aware of the celebration. Next day the
truth came out — Richmond was still in Confederate hands, and
McClellan had fallen back. That night all the little candle
ends in camp — prisoners were allowed to use them until taps —
twinkled from stumps of trees and every conspicuous spot in
the enclosure. But there was no speechmaking or cheering,
and voices were kept down to the level of a whisper. When
taps was sounded, every light was extinguished promptly.
Some good citizens protested at this unrepentant display, but
the Commandant in this instance upheld the prisoners.7

Rose wished to take under advisement with Colonel Hoff-
man some special cases among the prisoners, and also the
handling of the prisoners' fund. He wrote to Hoffman on
July 4, asking him to visit the camp.8 Hoffman's headquarters
had by this time been transferred to Detroit, and he had been
given full supervision of prisoners of war sent by generals in
the field to prison camps.9 On the seventh of July he issued

"Morton, Telegraphic Correspondence, June 11-July 31, 1862, pp. 52, 58,
64. ^

7Evander Shapard, "Recollections of Camp Morton," in Confederate
Veteran, VIII, 211 (May, 1900) ; ibid., XIV, 394 (September, 1906) ; XV,
203 (May, 1907) ; Indianapolis Sentinel, July 3, 1862, p. 3, c. 5 ; July 4, p. 3,
c. 5.

^Official Records, 2 series, IV, 126.

9He was expected to visit the camps once a month, if practicable. General
Orders No. 67, July 17, 1862, ibid., IV, 30.

CAMP MORTON 289

a set of regulations to all prison camp commandants, which is
interesting in comparison with the rules formulated by Owen.10

"The following regulations will be observed at all stations
where prisoners of war are held :

"i. The commanding officer at each station is held ac-
countable for the discipline and good order of his command
and for the security of the prisoners, and will take such
measures as will best secure these results. He will divide the
prisoners into companies, and will cause written reports to be
made to him of their condition every morning showing the
changes made during the preceding twenty-four hours, giving
the names of the 'joined,' 'transferred,' 'deaths,' &c. At the
end of every month commanders will send to the commissary-
general of prisoners a return of prisoners, giving names and
details to explain alterations. Where rolls of 'joined' or
'transferred' have been forwarded during the month it will be
sufficient to refer to them on the return.

"2. On the arrival of prisoners at any station a careful
comparison of them with the rolls that accompany them will
be made and all errors on the rolls will be corrected. When no
roll accompanies the prisoners one will be immediately made
out containing all the information required as correct as can
be from the statements of the prisoners themselves. When
the prisoners are citizens the town, county, and State from
which they come will be given on the rolls under the heads,
rank, regiment and company. At the same time they will be
required to give up all arms and weapons of every description
and all moneys which they have in their possession, for which
the commanding officer will give receipts.

"3. The hospital will be under the immediate charge of
the senior surgeon who will be held responsible to the com-
manding officer for its good order and the condition of the
sick. 'The fund' of this hospital will be kept separate from
the fund of the hospital for the troops and will be disbursed
for the sole benefit of the sick prisoners on the requisition of
the surgeon approved by the commanding officer. When the
fund is sufficiently large there will be bought with it besides

10Ibid.} IV, 152-53.

290 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

the articles usually purchased all articles of table furniture,
kitchen utensils, articles for policing, shirts and drawers for
the sick, the expense of washing, and all articles that may be
indispensably necessary to promote the sanitary condition
of the hospital.

"4. The commanding officer will cause requisitions to be
made by his quartermaster on the nearest depot for such cloth-
ing as may be absolutely necessary for the prisoners, which
requisition will be approved by him after a careful inquiry as
to the necessity and submitted for the approval of the commis-
sary-general of prisoners. The clothing will be issued by the
quartermaster to the prisoners with the assistance and under
the supervision of an officer detailed for the purpose, whose
certificate that the issue has been made in his presence will be
the quartermaster's voucher for the clothing issued. From
the 30th of April to the 1st of October neither drawers nor
socks will be allowed except to the sick.

"5. A general fund for the benefit of the prisoners will
be made by withholding from their rations all that can be
spared without inconvenience to them, and selling this surplus
under existing regulations to the commissary, who will hold
the funds in his hands and be accountable for them subject
to the commanding officer's order to cover purchases. The
purchases with the fund will be made by or through the quarter-
master with the approval or order of the commanding officer,
the bills being paid by the commissary, who will keep an account
book in which will be carefully entered all receipts and pay-
ments with the vouchers ; and he will keep the commanding
officer advised from time to time of the amount of this fund.
x\t the end of the month he will furnish the commanding
officer with an account of the fund for the month showing
the receipts and disbursements, which account will be for-
warded to the commissary-general of prisoners with the
remarks of the commanding officer. With this fund will be
purchased all such articles as may be necessary for the health
and comfort of the prisoners and which would otherwise have
to be purchased by the Government. Among these articles are
all table furniture and cooking utensils, articles for policing
purposes, bedticks and straw, the means of improving or en-

CAMP MORTON 291

larging the barrack accommodations, extra pay to clerks who
have charge of the camp post-office, and who keep the ac-
counts of moneys deposited with the commanding offi-
cer, &c, &c.

"6, The sutler is entirely under the control of the com-
manding officer who will see that he furnishes proper articles,
and at reasonable rates. For his privilege the sutler will be
taxed a small amount by the commanding officer according to
the amount of his trade, which tax will make a part of
the general fund.

"7. Prisoners will not be permitted to hold or receive
money. All moneys in possession or received will be taken
charge of by the commanding officer who will give receipts
for it to those to whom it belongs. They will purchase from
the sutler such articles as they may wish, which are not pro-
hibited, and on the bill of the articles they will give an order
on the commanding officer for the amount, and this will be
kept as a voucher with the individual's account. The com-
manding officer will keep a book in which the accounts of all
those who have money deposited with him will be kept, and
this book with the vouchers must be always ready for the
inspection of the commissary-general of prisoners.

"8. All articles contributed by friends for the prisoners
in whatever shape they come if proper to be received will be
carefully distributed as the donors may request ; such articles
as are intended for the sick passing through the hands of the
surgeon who will be responsible for their proper use. Contri-
butions must be received by an officer who must be held
responsible that they are delivered to the persons for whom
they are intended.

"9. Visitors to these stations out of mere curiosity will
in no case be permitted. Persons having business with the
commanding officer or quartermaster may with the permis-
sion of the commanding officer enter the camp to remain only
long enough to transact their business. When prisoners are
seriously ill their nearest relatives, parents, wives, brothers or
sisters if they are loyal people may be permitted to make them
short visits ; but under no other circumstances will visitors be

292 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

allowed to see them without the approval of the commissary-
general of prisoners.

"10. Prisoners will not be permitted to write letters of
more than one page of common letter paper, the matter to be
strictly of a private nature, or the letter must be destroyed.

"n. Prisoners will be paroled or released only by the
authority of the War Department, or by direction of the
commissary-general of prisoners."

In Rule 5, Rose found the answer to his uncertainties about
the handling of the prisoners' fund. It did away with the self-
constituted council at Camp Morton which had heretofore
ordered expenditures, and to which Quartermaster Ekin had
objected; responsibility was now concentrated in the hands of
Ekin and the commandant. After a visit to the camp, Hoff-
man gave Rose further explicit directions. The post quarter-
master and commissary, Lieutenant Lupton, was to make no
purchases himself. As treasurer of the fund, he was to pay
only bills made in Captain Ekin's name, and approved by Rose.
Certain post expenditures were criticized — too much for post-
age and tobacco, and not enough for vegetables; improper
payments in connection with the pursuit of escaped prisoners;
too much pay to employees at the camp ; the engagement of a
civilian as paymaster at fifty dollars a month. The necessity
of keeping the accounts and rolls up-to-date was empha-
sized once more.11

Toward the middle of July a stampede among the prisoners
startled the town. First rumors had it that a hundred prisoners
had escaped and fifteen or twenty had been killed; Captain
Ekin telegraphed Secretary Stanton that fifty had escaped; but
the Journal, after investigating at Camp Morton and the hospi-
tals, set the number at about twenty-five. The removal of
one of the more experienced guard regiments and the stormy,
rainy night of July 14 gave the prisoners as good a chance for
escape as they could ever hope for. Prying loose the posts at
the northeast corner of the enclosure, they rushed the fence and
forced a few panels. The guards, alarmed by the commotion,
beat the long roll, and Colonel Rose hastily ordered out all

^Official Records, 2 series, IV, 240-41.

CAMP MORTON 293

available men in three pursuit parties, one along the pike to the
left, one to the right, and one to sweep the area between.
Thirteen of the fleeing men, two of them wounded, were
captured within twenty-four hours ; one poor soul got "tired
of walking" and surrendered to a conductor on the Terre
Haute line; all the rest but one were brought back to the
camp by July 18.12

In spite of the stringent orders to prevent prisoners from
approaching the walls, some of the more desperate men in the
camp continued to take chances by obeying orders tardily or
not at all. On July 24 one of this group was wounded by a
guard who had apparently given the required three warnings
and then fired. The case was reviewed by a court of inquiry,
and the guard's action sustained13

Disturbing to the morale of the camp as these occurrences
were, their effect was minimized by the great excitement fol-
lowing rumors of a general exchange of prisoners.14 The
subject had been under discussion between Union and Confed-
erate officials for months, but a cartel of exchange was not
signed until July 22. 15 Even after the signing, the success of
negotiations was threatened in various ways. For example,
Governor John Letcher, of Virginia, infuriated by General
Pope's order for the removal of disloyal citizens from their
lands in the rear of his lines, claimed from the War Depart-
ment of the Confederacy the right to try Union officers cap-
tured in Virginia in the state courts, on charges of treason
and inciting slaves to insurrection.16 The actual exchange did
not take place until late in August.

"Indianapolis Journal, July 16, 1862, p. 3, c. 2 ; July 17, p. 3, c. 1 ; July
18, p. 3, c. 2 ; Indianapolis Sentinel, July 16, 1862, p. 3, c. 1 ; July 18, p. 3, c. 1 ;
Official Records, 2 series, IV, 225.

"Indianapolis Sentinel, July 25, 1862, p. 3, c. 1 ; Indianapolis Journal,
July 26, 1862, p. 3, c. 3.

"Indianapolis Sentinel, June 17, 1862, p. 3, c. 2.

15Hesseltine, Civil War Prisons, 17-33-

wIbid., 71, 74, 89; Official Records, 2 series, IV, 781, 828-29, 849-50,
875-76; V, 147-48, 212, 222, 223, 286, 358. It was not until March, 1863,
that the Virginia legislature overruled the Governor and transferred to the
Confederate Government the whole problem of prisoners. See also Indian-
apolis Journal, August 15, 1862, p. 2, c. 1 ; Indianapolis Sentinel, August 16,
1862, p. 2, c. I.

294 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

All through the months of June and July Camp Morton
buzzed with surmises as to where and when the exchange would
take place. Another question was raised by some of the
prisoners. What would happen if a man didn't want to be
exchanged? Some men felt that they had made a mistake in
enlisting; some were influenced by the fact that in the North
good labor was in demand and wages were high ; others, whom
public opinion had forced into service, dreaded the thought of
an exchange which would make them liable for further service.

This attitude was particularly strong among the Tennes-
seans. Owen, a few days before his departure, wrote to
Ekin :17 "After the reception at Camp Morton of a letter
addressed by the War Department to a prisoner named
Williams, indicating that negotiations were pending for an
exchange of prisoners, many persons individually & also as
delegates from whole companies, especially of Tennesseans,
stated verbally & also in writing, that they should not like to
be exchanged. Some of them said they would rather remain
in Camp Morton than be exchanged; others enquired if there
was no mode whatever by which they could hope to see their
homes again except by being forced into the southern army
again, which they earnestly desired to avoid.

"Judging from all I have seen and heard since the 20th
day of Feb. /62 when I took charge of the prisoners of war at
Camp Morton, I think I am justified in the belief that at least
two thirds of the men from Tennessee . . . would regret any
circumstances which induced or compelled them again to take
up arms against the Union."

Ekin transmitted Owen's letter to the Secretary of War,
with his own endorsement of the views expressed. Assurance
came back from Washington that when a system of exchange
had been established, no prisoners whose loyalty to the Union
was unquestioned would be "forced within the rebel lines.''18
On August 2, Ekin addressed Stanton again, asking what rule

"Letter of June 17, 1862, enclosed with Ekin's letter of the same date
to Secretary of War Stanton. Photostat in Indiana Division, Indiana State
Library.

18C. P. Wolcott to Owen, June 21, 1862, Official Records, 2 series, IV,
48. See also ibid,, IV, 328.

CAMP MORTON 295

was to be adopted in the case of the prisoners at Camp Morton
who wanted to take the oath of allegiance.19

Most of Tennessee was at this time in Union hands, and
a temporary government had been set up with Andrew Johnson
as military governor. He was asked by the War Department
for suggestions as to the disposition of the Tennesseans at
Camp Morton, and proposed that a commissioner be sent to
examine all Tennesseans in northern prison camps. Those
willing to take the oath and meaning it, would be released;
those unwilling to comply or whose motives were questionable
would be held for exchange or continued confinement.20

Johnson's plan was carried out. Former Governor Wil-
liam B. Campbell, the commissioner appointed, reached
Indianapolis on the thirteenth of August and began his exam-
ination of the prisoners.21 The camp was in a turmoil.
Prisoners wishing to take the oath were marched outside the
enclosure for the ceremony. According to the Sentinel,22 those
inside "hooted, yelled, threw stones, old shoes, and every mis-
sile they could lay their hands on, at the peaceably-disposed.
Col. Rose had patrols placed over the ground to keep order, and
was obliged to threaten the free use of powder and ball. One
prisoner insisted upon mounting the fence. The guard outside
ordered him down. He would not get down. The guard then
fired over his head. At this the man only evinced the greater
determination to keep his head above the fence. The
guard then deliberately fired at him. The ball passed
through the ear of the man aimed at, and struck one on the
inside, some fifty or one hundred yards away, in the forehead,
killing him instantly."

19Ibid., IV, 331. See also Hoffman to General Thomas, July 15, 1862,
ibid., IV, 223.

20Ibid., IV, 328, 333. Johnson had had the matter under consideration for
some time. In April, Tennessee prisoners at Camp Douglas had appealed to
him to use his influence with the Federal Government to secure their release
upon taking the oath of allegiance. At that time Johnson wrote to Secretary
Stanton that he thought the reappearance of the prisoners among their friends
and relatives would "exert a great moral influence in favor of the perpetuity
of the Union." Ibid., Ill, 457-58, 643.

"Ibid., IV, 362, 387.

"Indianapolis Sentinel, August 16, 1862, p. 3, c. 1, 2; Indianapolis
Journal, August 16, 1862, p. 3, c. 2.

296 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Although order was restored without further bloodshed,
Ekin telegraphed for permission to remove the Union sym-
pathizers, because the feelings of the other prisoners were so
bitter toward them. He was instructed to hold them until
Adjutant General Thomas should arrive with instructions. On
the twentieth Thomas and Colonel Hoffman both reached
Indianapolis, where they interviewed Governor Morton and
Campbell, and it was arranged that the prisoners from Ten-
nessee who had taken the oath should be released and furnished
transportation to Nashville. Most of them left Indianapolis
on August 22, six months almost to the day from their entry
to Camp Morton. Over three hundred had taken the oath
of allegiance.23

During his visit, General Thomas made a thorough exam-
ination of Camp Morton, and of the other camps and the
arsenal. The administration of the Camp Morton quarter-
master's and commissary departments he complimented as the
best seen in any prison camp.24 Thomas' principal concern was
the completion of arrangements for exchange, which he worked
out with Hoffman and the camp authorities. There was the
question of guards. By this time two-thirds of the force at
the camp were thirty-day men, whose time of service had ex-
pired on August 17. Willing to do their share in the emer-
gency, most of these men agreed to remain until the exchange
had been completed.25

Rolls of all prisoners, including those on parole, had already
been made up under an order issued by Hoffman to camp com-
mandants on July 3 1.26 Hoffman had never ceased exhorting
his subordinates to keep their records straight, but now every
slip, every omission, every error that had been made was vitally
important to some prisoner. A man could not be exchanged if
his name did not show on both Union and Confederate tallies.
If he had enlisted under a false name and forgotten his
pseudonym or if his name had been struck off the rolls by

'"Official Records, 2 series, IV, 396, 397, 410, 413-M, 422. Indianapolis
Journal, August 22, 1862, p. 3, c. 1 ; August 23, p. 3, c. 1.
"Indianapolis Sentinel, August 22, 1862, p. 3, c. 2.
^Official Records, 2 series, IV, 331, 361, 375.
"Ibid., IV, 318-19.

CAMP MORTON 297

mischance, he was liable to be classed with the guerilla
prisoners, who were recognized by neither government and
were not subject to exchange.27

Death rolls were neither complete nor accurate, and some
guerillas managed to be exchanged by answering to the names
of dead men from organized regiments.28 In spite of the care
exercised slip-ups did occur, some too ludicrous to be received
as sober fact. For example, there was the famous case, not
connected with Camp Morton, of Lieutenant J. W. Adams,
who was exchanged three times, all without his knowledge and
while he was flat on his back in a hospital at West Point.29

Final orders for the removal of the prisoners were issued
on August 22. Captain H. M. Lazelle, Eighth United States
Infantry, was made agent for their delivery at Vicksburg;
Captain H. W. Freedley, Third United States Infantry,
superintended their departure from Camp Morton. To
Lazelle, Hoffman wrote :30

"The prisoners of war at Camp Morton will be forwarded
to Cairo by rail and thence on steamers to Vicksburg under a
flag of truce. They will leave in three detachments — the
first to-morrow evening. . . .

"Each party will take with them rations for the day on
which they will leave. . . .

"A guard of one company will be provided by the com-
mander of Camp Morton to accompany each party. The three
parties will be assembled at Cairo whence they will leave at the
same time on steamboats under convoy, the whole being
under your orders.

"The commanding officer at Cairo has been instructed to
furnish all things that may be necessary for the movement.

"All moneys belonging to prisoners in the hands of Colonel
Rose will be turned over to you with a detailed account
of the amount due each person, and the amount will be
given to the prisoners by you when they are turned over to
the Confederate agent.

"Ibid., IV, 437-
"Ibid., IV, 545-
"Ibid., IV, 474-
"Ibid., IV, 420-21.

298 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

"You will be furnished with duplicate rolls of all prisoners
to be exchanged, and when they are delivered to the agent of
the Confederate States you will take his receipt on both rolls
for all prisoners present, one of the rolls being left in his
hands and the other you will forward to the Adjutant
General at Washington."

Freedley received some additional instructions.31 Guerilla
prisoners and political prisoners were to be sent to the depot at
Sandusky. The account of the prisoners' fund was to be made
up as soon as possible and sent to Hoffman at Detroit. To
help in this business, Hoffman allowed the retention of
prisoners of war who were acting as clerks in the quarter-
master's department, with the understanding that they be sent
to Cairo before September 15.

Twelve hundred thirty-eight prisoners left Indianapolis on
Saturday, August 23, departing as they had arrived, among a
crowd of interested spectators ; 773 more left for Cairo on
Sunday, 333 for Sandusky on Monday, and 990 for Cairo on
Wednesday. One lot of prisoners, probably about six hundred,
was scheduled to leave for Cairo Thursday.32 Safely south-
bound from Cairo on the gunboat "Lexington," the prisoners
began to worry about the arms which had been taken from
them at Camp Morton and, to the probable confusion of Cap-
tain Lazelle, produced a receipt for them from the camp com-
mandant. It is probable that they did receive their worn and
blunted knives, but their pistols were lost to them forever.
Orders directing the return of "side arms" to the Fort
Donelson prisoners upon their arrival at Vicksburg had ex-
pressly excluded that weapon.33 There remained at Camp
Morton a few men whose names did not appear on any
rolls — among them a group of 26 from Kentucky who had
just arrived — and in the City Hospital, another group of the
sick and their nurses, 107 in number. The greater part of the

^Official Records, 2 series, IV, 421.

32Ibid., IV, 436-37, 460-61 ; Indianapolis Journal, August 25, 1862,
p. 3, c. 2; August 28, p. 3, c. 2; August 29, p. 3, c. 3; September 1,
p. 3, c. 3; Indianapolis Sentinel, August 25, 1862, p. 3, c. 2 ; August 27,
p. 3, c. 1.

330fficial Records, 2 series, IV, 365, 464, 521.

CAMP MORTON

299

convalescents were discharged in the first week of September.34
The actual exchange of prisoners at Vicksburg was in
charge of two field officers, one Union, one Confederate.
These officers had the right to refuse to accept any man whose
organization they did not recognize, or any man whom they
knew to be a criminal with warrants out against him. The
following table of equivalents had been agreed upon in the
cartel drawn up by General John A. Dix of the Union Army
and General Daniel H. Hill, for the Confederacy:35

Commander in Chief
or Admiral

Flag officer or
Major General

Commodore or Brig-
adier General

Navy Captain or
Colonel

Commander or
Lieut. Col.

Lieut. Commander
or Major

Navy Lieut, or
Army Captain

Master's Mate or
Army Lieut, or
Ensign

Midshipman, navy
warrant officer,
master of mer-
chant vessel, or
commander of pri-
vateer

All petty officers
or noncoms.

for officer or

of equal rank

60 privates or

common seamen
40

20

15
10

8

6

4

The men to be exchanged stood in two lines, Indian file, the
line of Confederates headed south, the Federal men headed
north. This apparently childish arrangement added a great
deal to the moral effect of the exchange. At a certain spot

uIbid., IV, 461 ; Indianapolis Journal, September 3, 1862, p. 3,
Noble, A. G. O., Letter and Order Book No. 1, p. 479.
^Official Records, 2 series, IV, 266-67.

c. 2

300 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

some distance from any building, ditch, or tree, two captains,
one Union, the other Confederate, stood facing each other.
Ten feet away stood another pair of captains. The Union
men moved north between one pair of captains, the Confed-
erates moved south between the other pair. As each prisoner
passed between the officers, each captain struck him lightly
on the shoulder, counting audibly — one, two, three, and so
on. Each captain had to have the table of exchange clearly
in mind, and watch for the insignia of rank. After the count
of "fifty" the lines halted. A sergeant's guard from each side
stood by to see to it that the fifty men who had just been
counted stood in the line until the count had been verified, and
that the fifty men in each line were agreed upon by the two
captains in each case. The trouble came, of course, from the
fact that there were not always fifty men in the line, but the
equivalent of the number, according to the table adopted.

When both lines had been checked, the men could break
rank and join their friends, but these groups had to be un-
armed, and were not permitted to approach within one hundred
feet of the four officers who did the counting. The counting
was a slow and tiresome process, since many of the men were
ill and had to be helped. Many of them were overcome with
emotion ; some fainted from exhaustion. Everyone was eager
to get the matter over with and everything possible was done
to expedite the exchange.36

Following the actual exchange, each government took
charge of its own reclaimed men. After a physical examina-
tion, those who were fit were returned to their own outfits or
assigned to others. Those whose health was impaired were
sent home on furlough or discharged. Some who were not
equal to duty in the field were put to such lighter work as
orderly service or guard duty in public buildings. Their
main requirements were plenty of sleep and shelter
from bad weather. Many of this class eventually made
a complete recovery.

^From a verbal account given by the late Captain and Assistant Adjutant
General E. Lewis Moore, Seventh Connecticut Volunteers, who served as
an official several times during exchange.

CAMP MORTON 301

The closing of prison camp records at Camp Morton fell to
Captain Freedley. Any part of the prisoners' fund remaining
on hand was to be turned over to Captain Thomas Foster, Jr.,
commissary of subsistence at Indianapolis. Sums of money
belonging to prisoners and uncalled for at their departure were
to be turned over to Hoffman, with a list of the owners. The
rolls for the last two months and a half had to be checked
and put in order. All this done, the records of the camp were
to be safely boxed and put into the hands of Captain Ekin.37

By the first of September, 1862, Camp Morton had been
cleared of rebel prisoners. It was in bad shape, and an im-
mediate "renovation and purification" was begun by companies
from the Fifth Cavalry. They had instructions to put the
quarters into shape and build new bunks,38 but before much
work could be done, accommodations were required for troops
in training and for Indiana volunteers who had been captured
at Richmond, Kentucky, on August 30, and sent home on
parole. On Saturday morning, September 6, the State House
grove was crowded with men from the Twelfth, Sixteenth, and
Fifty-fifth Indiana Regiments, the first arrivals. After some
delay they were organized as far as possible into their regular
companies, and marched out to Camp Morton.39 Several
thousand more Indiana troops, including Colonel Owen and
part of the Sixtieth, were paroled at Munfordville, Kentucky,
on September 17. They were not allowed to take their way
northward through the Confederate lines, but sent southward
with four days rations, to reach the Union forces under Buell
at Bowling Green and then make their way to Louisville.
From there some of them were sent to Indianapolis.40

The War Department had set up camps of instruction for
paroled prisoners, one at Annapolis, one at Camp Chase, one
in Missouri. Indiana prisoners were scheduled to go to Camp
Chase. Morton combated this arrangement with his usual
extraordinary vigor, for parolees there were said to be badly

^Official Records, 2 series, IV, 567.

38Indianapolis Sentinel, August 26, 1862, p. 3, c. 1 ; September 4, p. 3, c.
1 ; Noble, A. G. O., Letter and Order Book No. 1, p. 477.
39Indianapolis Journal, September 8, 1862, p. 3, c. 1.
^Official Records, 2 series, IV, 701.

302 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

demoralized — insubordinate, indifferent, and disinclined to
make any effort to fit themselves for further service.41 The
Governor had no intention of allowing the same thing to hap-
pen to six thousand Indianans. He was determined to keep
them in their own state, maintain discipline, and give them
intensive training toward the time when exchange would make
them available in the field.42

Two things worked in Morton's favor. First, the com-
mandant at Camp Chase begged that no more paroled prisoners
be sent there.43 Second, a twenty-day furlough was granted to
officers and men of several of the captured Indiana regi-
ments.44 They were ordered to report at Camp Chase on
October 21, but Morton was rightly confident that he could
keep them in Indiana.

Apparently the Twelfth and Sixteenth Regiments remained
at Camp Morton, which was put in charge of Colonel John R.
Mahan.45 The Fifty-fifth was mustered out toward the middle
of September when its term of enlistment expired. Parts of
other paroled regiments may have remained, and at least one
regiment of recruits (the One Hundredth) was in training
during September and October.

Letters written by the young adjutant of the One
Hundredth Regiment give some idea of how the camp appeared
to a recruit.46 His regiment found it "in a very filthy condi-
tion," and had "lots of work to do to set things right," but in
spite of cold nights, quarters with three others in a "very small
and leaky shanty," and "none too much to eat," he liked the
life "very well," and considered the men "happy and con-
tented." On September 12, he reported that about fifteen
hundred paroled prisoners from the Richmond fight were
expected, and two weeks later wrote that times were lively
with over three thousand troops in camp. His first review,

"Official Records, 2 series, IV, 94, 519, 546, 569-71, 594, 644-45.

i2Ibid., IV, 522, 562, 623, 638, 641 ; Morton, Telegraphic Correspondence,
September 2-September 29, 1862, p. 314.

^Official Records, 2 series, IV, 563.

"Ibid., IV, 5/1,5/2, 585-86, 613.

45Indianapolis Journal, November 13, 1862, p. 3, c. 1.

46Edward P. Williams, Extracts from Letters . . . 1862-1864 ( New York,
1903), pp. 5-14. See also Indianapolis Journal, November 13, 1862, p. 3, c. 1.

CAMP MORTON 303

which kept him in the saddle for two hours in the forenoon
and from one until six-thirty in the afternoon, left him "very
tired," but he had worn his full dress uniform, "the first
occasion," and considered the day a satisfactory one.

Nothing really bothered him except the Sundays. "There
was preaching this evening," he wrote on October 5, "but none
during the day, the men having been kept busy cleaning up
the whole grounds. The whole camp (thirty acres) was swept
thoroughly. I do not approve of making the men do so much
work on Sunday." And later: "Am sorry to say we know
no Sunday here. It is hard work every day. Never in all
my life has time passed so rapidly as here."

Late in the month three thousand paroled prisoners came
into camp at the end of their furloughs, and from that time
there wras a good deal of trouble in holding in check the more
rebellious of them. Such compensations as the recruits dis-
covered in the hard, driving days at Camp Morton made
little appeal to the paroled men. They were tired and their
morale was low. Having lost most of their belongings in
Kentucky, they expected a fresh issue of tents and mess equip-
ment, but discovered that the Government did not provide these
things for paroled soldiers.

They wrote bitterly to the newspapers47 that they had been
ordered to camp "to drill, to be rearmed and reclothed and
await exchange," but actually had "barely escaped starving."
Their whole treatment seemed to be of a "uniform meanness,"
which they interpreted as punishment for a capture which was
not their fault. It was a specially sore point that the camp of
the drafted men was filled with tents while they were left to
manage as best they might.

Although they were not permitted to do any duty which
would free troops for active service, they were kept busy
guarding and policing their own camp, repairing barracks re-
quired for their own use, drilling seven hours a day, and taking
part in occasional parades.48 This strict discipline had good
results, and when word reached Indianapolis on November

4TIndianapolis Journal, October 2, 1862, p. 3, c. 4 : October 22, p. 3, c. 2.
i8OfficiaI Records, 2 series, IV, 653-54. Colonel Henry B. Carrington
had charge of the training.

304 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

17, 1862, that their exchange had at last been effected, the
men were in excellent condition. It was a gala day at Camp
Morton. The men cheered and shouted, and welcomed the
Governor with enthusiasm when he arrived to address the
regiments one by one.

Freed for service, the regiments began moving to the field
as fast as organization and equipment were completed. There
were still enough soldiers in town to make a good showing at
the Thanksgiving Day celebration, but by December 6, Camp
Morton was almost depopulated.49

^Official Records, 2 series, IV, 700-1, 705, 707, 717, 735-36; Indianapolis
Journal, November 18, 1862, p. 3, c. 1 ; November 27, p. 3, c. 2 ; December 6,
p. 3, c. 1.

IV. EMERGENCY HOSPITALS, 1862

More than one half of the Fort Donelson prisoners were
in need of medical care when they reached Indianapolis
late in February, 1862. The Mississippians were in particu-
larly bad shape. In the retreat from Fort Henry they had lost
most of their baggage and extra clothing; when they reached
Fort Donelson they were at once pressed into work on the
fortifications, and during the siege lay half frozen in the
ditches and rifle pits day and night. Such exposure would
have been dangerous to seasoned troops; among these lads,
many of them under eighteen years of age, the effects were
disastrous. The miserable journey to Indianapolis in the most
disagreeable month of the year exhausted what little endurance
they had left, and for the first six weeks after their arrival
hundreds of them were on the sick list.1

Hospital quarters in the old power hall at Camp Morton
were totally inadequate. Part of the small space was needed
for guards on the sick list, leaving only twenty-five bunks for
prisoners. At the City Hospital most of the beds were already
occupied by sick and wounded Union soldiers, but some
emergency cases among the prisoners were taken there.2
Dr. Patrick H. Jameson treated as many as he could in the
barracks at camp, with some assistance from prisoners who
had a little medical knowledge. To provide for the rest,
Adjutant General Noble, Quartermaster Ekin, and Dr. John S.
Bobbs, chief surgeon, secured quarters in two buildings on
Meridian Street.

One of these, the Gymnasium building on the northeast
corner of Meridian and Maryland, became Military Hospital
No. 2 almost overnight. About sixty prisioners were moved
in on the twenty-sixth of February, and by March 3 the

Indianapolis Journal, March 4, 1862, p. 3, c. 3 ; Patrick H. Jameson,
Report to the Adjutant General, June 1, 1862, Executive Department file,
109.9, 1861, Archives Division, Indiana State Library.

2Indianapolis Journal, February 28, 1862, p. 3, c. 1.

(305)

306 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

number was more than doubled. The Reverend Horace
Stringfellow, rector of Christ's Church, seems to have
superintended the nursing during the first few days, aided by
volunteers from the men and women of Indianapolis.3

In this little interval, good will sometimes had to take the
place of training and experience. A story which went the
rounds of the newspapers in the state illustrates this point, and
is not past believing. Its central figure is a warmhearted
young lady who had offered her services in the hospital, but
found herself uncertain as to how best to make herself useful.
At last, after several unsuccessful attempts to minister to the
patients, she seized a towel and a basin of water and advanced
upon another soldier. "Can't I wash your feet?" she asked.
The man opened his eyes just long enough to reply with
resignation, "Well, I don't care if it will be any pleasure to
you, but they have already been washed three times today."

To bring some order out of the existing confusion,
Dr. William B. Fletcher was put in charge of Hospital No. 2,
and Colonel Owen was asked to send ten "sprightly intelligent"
men from among the prisoners at Camp Morton to help with
the sick. A few days later twenty more were called for. When
about half of them proved "entirely worthless" as nurses,
Adjutant General Noble asked Owen to supply eight or ten
healthy Germans or Irishmen if they could be found. At the
same time, "owing to the difficulty in properly organizing
and arranging the Hospital," he issued an order excluding all
visitors except those detailed for duty by the surgeon in
charge. This rule was later extended to cover all the hospitals,
and proved most beneficial. By March 6 Hospital No. 2
was functioning in an orderly way. Two matrons had been
employed and kitchen accommodations improvised where food
could be prepared properly. Already the capacity of the
hospital was overtaxed, and again measures had been taken
to secure supplementary quarters.4

^Indianapolis Journal, February 25, 1862, p. 3, c. 3 ; February 28, p. 3,
c. 1 ; March 1, p. 3, c. 2. John H. Holliday, Indianapolis and the Civil War
(Indiana Historical Society Publications, IV, no. 9, Indianapolis, 191 1), 573-

4Noble, A. G. O., Letter and Order Book No. 1, pp. 146, 147, 152; Indian-
apolis Journal, March 4, 1862, p. 3, c. 4; March 6, p. 3, c. 2. Newspapers
often referred to Hospital No. 2 as the Meridian Street Hospital.

CAMP MORTON 307

Space was available in the old four-story post office on
Meridian Street near the corner of Washington. Captain Ekin
cut more red tape, contracted for the building on March 5, and
had Military Hospital No. 3 crudely ready for patients in
thirty-six hours. The first and second floors were divided into
two wards each, and preparations were made for similar ar-
rangement of the two upper stories. It was thought that from
200 to 250 men could be accommodated. Having no mattresses
ready, Ekin begged help of the young ladies of Miss Merrill's
school, and these young women put together one hundred and
fifty bed sacks and a number of pillow slips in a single day.
Dr. Talbot Bullard was placed in charge of this hospital, with
Dr. Will Bullard as his assistant. Two sergeants from the
Fourth Mississippi were selected as ward masters, and given
a detail of twenty of their comrades to act as nurses. At least
a hundred prisoners were brought into the hospital by March J.5

In a few cases, sick prisoners were removed to private
houses, where they could be cared for to better advantage
than in crowded hospitals, but this practice was soon discon-
tinued by General Halleck's orders.6

During these busy days. Colonel Hoffman, commissary
general of prisoners, visited Camp Morton and the hospitals,
and on March 5 reported to General Meigs what had been
done.7 Since the City Hospital, under Dr. Kitchen, was oc-
cupied exclusively by sick volunteers and prisoners of war, he
arranged that expenses there be borne by the Government.
Expenses of the two downtown hospitals were estimated at
$225 each per month, exclusive of rent. At each the attending
physician was paid $100, a steward, $40, two matrons, $30
each, and an apothecary, $25. Rental for one building was
$104 and for the other, $60.

Supplies of sheets and pillowcases, and sufficient under-
clothing to insure cleanliness were authorized by the Govern-
ment, but it took time to secure them in quantity, and appeals

5Indianapolis Journal, March 6, 1862, p. 3, c. 2 ; March 7, p. 3, c. 2. This
hospital was often referred to as Center Hospital.

6Terrell, Report, I, 461-62; Indianapolis Journal, March 6, 1862, p. 3, c.
1 ; March 27, p. 3, c. 2.

''Official Records, 2 series, III, 348-49, 375-

308 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

were made to the townspeople to send old shirts, underclothing,
and bed linen. Some homes were practically stripped of
bedding, first, by contributions to sick Union soldiers in
Kentucky and Indiana, and now by gifts to the prisoners.
Their woeful state probably induced more than one young
lady to give up her own pillow, when every spare one in the
house had gone for some soldier's use.8

To secure suitable food for the sick men, a hospital fund
was set up; this operated as did the prisoners' fund at Camp
Morton. From the regular issue of one soldier's ration for
each patient, excess quantities of food were bought back by
the commissary, and the money thus accruing was expended
in purchasing vegetables and delicacies. Here again the citizens
of Indianapolis were asked to supplement what the hospital
kitchens could supply. Corn bread and buttermilk were two
of the articles most in demand, and quantities were sent in
by individuals and associations. Clothing, fruits, and wines
came also from friends of the prisoners in Kentucky. Addi-
tional purchases were made from the prisoners' fund, which
increased much faster than the hospital fund.9

The improvised accommodations for the sick were far from
satisfactory. Occupants of the building adjoining Hospital
No. 2 objected to its location, protesting that the stench would
be intolerable as summer months approached. A sharp reply
in the Journal asserted that the hospital wards were clean, dry,
and free from odor, and pointed out that the authorities had
done the best they could in the exigencies of the situation : no
quarters had been available outside the city, and the sick
could not wait.10

The criticism was valid, however. The situation of the
hospitals was not only bad for neighboring buildings ; the dust
and noise were undesirable for the patients. The buildings

^Official Records, 2 series, III, 375, 400-1 ; Indianapolis Journal, Feb-
ruary 28, 1862, p. 3, c. 1 ; March 11, p. 3, c. 3; Indiana Soldier, I, 323~24-

^Official Records, 2 series, III, 401, 617, 620-21 ; Indianapolis Journal,
March 5, 1862, p. 3, c. 2; March 6, p. 3, c. 2; March 8, p. 3, c. 2; March 11,
p. 3, c. 2; March 14, p. 3, c. 3; March 17, p. 3, c. 2.

10Ibid., March 13, 1862, p. 3, c. 2; March 14, p. 2, c. 2; March 15,
p. 3, c. 2.

CAMP MORTON 309

themselves had not been designed for hospital use. Ingress
and egress were badly arranged, and the prisoners on duty as
nurses and orderlies found it fairly easy to make their escape.
Iron bars were finally put into the rear windows of Hospital
No. 3 as a preventive.11

Captain Ekin looked about for better quarters, and settled
upon a frame building on the corner of Curve and Plum streets,
east of the Bellefontaine car shops and north of Massachusetts
Avenue. This could be fitted up for about eighty cots, and
would allow the hospital in the Gymnasium to be dismantled.
Patients and equipment were moved from Hospital No. 2 on
April 3. Dr. Fletcher resigned at the time of the move and
was succeeded by Dr. Livingston Dunlap, with Dr. J. H. Til-
ford as his assistant.12

Ever since Hoffman's visit, plans had been under way for
the construction of an addition to the City Hospital, which
would make a convenient and permanent provision for as many
as three hundred sick prisoners. It would also be less expensive
than several separate hospitals. Since the existing dispensary
and kitchens could be used, the chief requirement would be
additional nurses and attendants. It was thought that $2,500
would cover the cost of the addition.13

The main building was a three-story brick structure on
the site of the present City Hospital. The addition erected
to the north of the old building for the prisoners was of frame
construction, a hundred feet long, forty-two feet wide, and
three stories high.14 It was completed in May, and by the
twenty- fourth of that month the patients from the downtown
hospital in the old post office and from the Bellefontaine
hospital had been transferred there. The Journal describes
it as follows :15

uIbid., March 14, 1862, p. 3, c. 2; April 1, p. 3, c. 1 ; Indianapolis Sentinel,
March 13, 1862, p. 3, c. 2 ; March 22, p. 3, c. 2.

12Indianapolis Journal, March 25, 1862, p. 3, c. 1 ; April 3, p. 3, c. 2 ;
April 4, p. 3, c. 2.

^Official Records, 2 series, III, 349, 375-

uIbid., Ill, 386-87; Indianapolis Journal, March 22, 1862, p. 3, c. 1.

15 Ibid., May 24, 1862, p. 3, c. 1-2. See also Indianapolis Sentinel, July
21, 1862, p. 3. c. 2.

310 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

"The stories are but nine feet, not quite so high as they
should be, but as the building is only intended as a temporary
summer hospital this defect is but slight. The wards are
larger than those in the main building, and they are fully as
comfortable, being well provided with windows, thus giving
plenty of air and light. These wards are kept neat and clean,
and no bad odor is emitted to nauseate both patients and
attendants, as was the case with one of our down-town hos-
pitals. . . . The number confined to a ward is greater than
in the Federal hospital, but this is owing to the size of the
rooms. None are crowded.

"The cooking is under the supervision of two Sisters of
Providence, who employ only females for the purpose. Every
article of food is well cooked and promptly furnished upon
short notice. The two classes of patients of the convalescents
[Union and Confederate] have separate dining rooms. ... In
fact the hospital is conducted in such a way that the two
hospitals are almost as distinct as if they were miles apart. No
intercourse whatever is allowed between our men and the
prisoners. The arrangements for washing and ironing are
complete. A constant change of clean clothes for the . . . pa-
tients and for their beds is supplied each week, or oftener, as
occasion may require.

"The City Hospital has for over a year been under the
charge of Dr. J. M. Kitchen, who has introduced such perfect
system . . . that everything goes like clockwork. . . .

". . .In the prisoners' hospital, Dr. Wilkes, a Surgeon
who was taken prisoner at Fort Donelson, is the Surgeon in
charge. . . . The Hospital Steward, Dr. Reame, is one of the
most industrious and faithful of men, and is a model of
promptness and efficiency."

Enlargement of the receiving hospital at Camp Morton
was also deemed advisable, and was carried out by putting in
a second floor or half floor.16 There was nothing elaborate
about this institution. To save expense in furnishing, each
patient was required to bring his own blanket. The steward,
ward masters, nurses, cooks, and other assistants, all prisoners,

16Official Records, 2 series, III, 387, 401.

CAMP MORTON 311

received no regular compensation, but Dr. Jameson gave them
books and papers, and occasional small sums of money. Ac-
cording to his report of June I, 1862, the whole number of
patients admitted to the receiving hospital since March 1 1
was 700. Of these 127 were returned to quarters, I had
died, 9 were still in the receiving hospital, and 563 had been
sent to the emergency quarters in the city which have
already been described.17

Many of the patients died, in spite of the best efforts of
the surgeons. Exposure and poor fare for weeks before they
reached Indianapolis left them too weak, too depressed, to
make any effort at recovery. Although they found better
quarters at Camp Morton than they had had for some time,18
there was little about a prison camp to revive their spirits, and
the cold weather of February and March had the worst possible
effect. With the facilities of present-day hospitals at their
disposal, they might have had some chance of recovery, but
the military hospitals of 1862 were little more than shelters
where the sick could be segregated from the well.

One physician described the pitiable condition of the Fort
Donelson prisoners thus :19 "The prevalent diseases among
them were typhoid fever and typhoid pneumonia, occurring in
persons in whom the vital forces had been reduced to the lowest
possible degree; many 'dropped dead' while walking about
their quarters, without having manifested any disease, organic
or functional, except great general debility. In persons of this
class, while moving about looking apparently in medium health,
the action of the heart and arteries would be so feeble as to be
scarcely perceptible in pulsations at the wrist."

Three Mississippians died on February 25, and the number
of deaths increased rapidly. "The mortality among the
prisoners does not abate," reported the Journal uneasily on
March 24. "The list below shows thirty-two deaths last week,
and no since the first arrival of prisoners here, being a greater

"Jameson, Report to Adjutant General Noble, June 1, 1862, Executive
Department file, 109.9, 1861, Archives Division, Indiana State Library.

"Indianapolis Journal, March 8, 1862, p. 3, c. 2.

^Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion, Medical
Volume, pt. Ill (Washington, 1888), 54-

312 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

number than have died at Chicago, where there are over 2,000
more prisoners." In April a case of smallpox appeared at
Camp Morton. Dr. Jameson found it necessary to vaccinate
about half the prisoners there, and fortunately this precaution
prevented the spread of this most-dreaded disease.20

Although no epidemics swept through the camp or hospitals,
it was not until June that the surgeons joined in reporting that
general health conditions were much improved. The total
number of deaths by the end of July was at least 265. In the
humid month of August, Dr. Jameson was obliged to report an
increase of dysentery and fevers at the camp. More than a
hundred prisoners were too weak to be conveyed to Vicksburg
late that month for exchange, but most of them were able to
leave early in September. Eight hundred nineteen Confed-
erates had by this time been treated in the City Hospital.21

Official medical records for these months are incomplete,
although hospital stewards were instructed to transmit to
Colonel Owen and Adjutant General Noble a report of all
deaths, giving the name of the deceased, date of admittance
to the hospital, company, regiment, and finally a list of any
personal effects, which were to be held for delivery to relatives
of the dead.22 In the lists of deaths among the prisoners
which appeared fairly regularly in the newspapers, the notation
"name unknown" is not uncommon.23

By direction of Governor Morton, five lots were purchased
near the City Cemetery for the interment of the Confederate
prisoners who died at Camp Morton. The cemetery lay along
Kentucky Avenue between West Street and the river, and came
to be called by the name of one of its additions — Greenlawn.
There was little ceremony about the burial services. Weaver
and Williams, an Indianapolis firm of undertakers, had con-
tracted to furnish plain wooden coffins for $3.50 each, and

^Indianapolis Sentinel, April 3, 1862, p. 3, c. 1.

21Ibid., August 4, 1862, p. 3, c. 1 ; August 29, p. 3, c. 2 ; September 3, p. 3,
c. 1 ; September 5, p. 3, c. 2.

22Noble, A. G. O., Letter and Order Book No. 1, pp. 195, 218; Indian-
apolis Journal, March 6, 1862, p. 3, c. 2.

2:;See especially weekly issues of Indianapolis Sentinel, March 4-July 24,
1862.

CAMP MORTON 313

delivered the bodies at the cemetery. There details of prisoners
dug the graves, trenches about twenty feet long in which the
coffins were laid side by side, with a stout board carrying a
painted identification number at the head of each one. If a
burial service was read or a prayer offered, the rite was
performed by one of the prisoners for his dead comrades.24

"Indianapolis Journal, February 27, 1862, p. 3, c. 2 ; March 18, p. 3, c. 2 ;
Noble, A. G. O., Letter and Order Book No. 1, pp. 133, 134; Indianapolis
Sentinel, February 26, 1862, p. 3, c. 2; March 6, p. 3, c. 2 ; January 31, 1865,
p. 3, c. 1.

V. CAMP MORTON IN DECLINE, 1863

Camp Morton's best period was past. By the beginning
of 1863, the connection between camp and state admin-
istration was greatly lessened. Guards, supplies, inspections,
camp improvements were under the control of the Federal
Commissary General of Prisoners, and if everything was not
always what the prisoners had a right to expect, state pride
was not greatly affected. As far as the citizens and news-
papers were concerned, prisoners had ceased to be an interest-
ing novelty, and other concerns gradually thrust them from
the public mind. Such circumstances as did recall them to
notice — reports of the miseries suffered by Union prisoners
in the South, or anti-administration attacks made more and
more frequently on the purposes and conduct of the war — did
them no service. From every point of view their fortunes
changed for the worse with the prolongation of the war.

The prisoners' camp should have had a thorough renovation
and rebuilding in the first months of 1863, for it was "much
dilapidated and sadly in need of repairs."1 For two years
Union recruits and Confederate prisoners had crowded the
barracks and swarmed over the enclosure. The buildings
which dated from the camp's fairground days had been put to
every use but the intended ones, and the few which had been
erected since the beginning of the war were flimsy makeshifts
designed on the theory that the war would soon be over. Noth-
ing was ever done in anticipation of a probable need, and by
the time the necessity of an improvement was acknowledged,
weeks and months of delay had usually aggravated the need
to twice its original proportions. From 1863 until 1865 tne
records contain a sorry round of inspectors' complaints and
recommendations, and orders from the Commissary General
of Prisoners in which permission for improvement was always
balanced by the strictest exhortation to economy.

The capture of several thousand Confederates at the

1Official Records, 2 series, V, 227.

(314)

CAMP MORTON 315

Arkansas Post and at Murfreesboro in January, 1863, found
prison camp officials as unprepared as the first large captures
made in 1862. Exchanges had been proceeding at City Point,
Virginia, and at Vicksburg, but were now halted at the
latter point by fighting in the area, and by the reluctance
of the Union command to reinforce a city which they were
intent on reducing.2

The prisoners were sent to St. Louis, where they were held
for several miserable days on the boats until quarters could
be found for them. To an inquiry about Camp Morton,
Adjutant General Noble replied that the barracks could be
made to accommodate two thousand prisoners, but no guard
was available. The lack of a sufficient guard was particularly
unfortunate at Indianapolis, where the number of seces-
sion sympathizers and anti-administration politicians was
steadily growing, but Hoffman had no better station avail-
able, and the prisoners were divided between Camp Morton
and Camp Douglas.3

Beginning on January 29, they reached Indianapolis in lots
of from two to three hundred, until, by the end of March, 652
prisoners were lodged in the tumble-down barracks. Nearly
all of them had been captured in the hospitals at Murfreesboro.
They came from Kentucky, Tennessee, and Alabama regi-
ments ; perhaps a dozen of them had been at Camp Morton
with the Fort Donelson prisoners. Among them were about
ninety badly wounded, who were dispatched to the Central
Hospital; 172 less seriously injured had to be taken care of
in the old hospital at Camp Morton, and in one of the barracks
which was taken over for their use.4

Because there was no crowding, the Murfreesboro prisoners
fared reasonably well. The drafty sheds along the north side
of the enclosure remained unoccupied. A fatigue party
worked hard at policing the camp, and although no major re-
pairs were made on the barracks, Captain Ekin furnished a

^Official Records, 2 series, V, 163, 176, 179-80.

3 Ibid., V, 201, 203-4, 228.

4Ibid., V, 227-28, 391-92; Indianapolis Journal, January 29, 1863, p. 3,
c. 3 ; February 12, p. 3, c. 1 ; Indianapolis Sentinel, January 30, 1863, p. 3, c. 1 ;
February 16, p. 3, c. 1 ; March 2, p. 3, c. 1.

316 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

carpenter who constructed some bunks, and put in additional
windows. It was recommended that several temporary bar-
racks at Camp Carrington (one of the many Indianapolis
camps for Union soldiers) be brought to Camp Morton in
anticipation of a larger number of prisoners, but the move was
not ordered. Five large buildings were in use, one 40 by 24
feet, one no by 20, two 100 by 20, and one 120 by 20 feet.
Nurses and noncommissioned officers attached to the hospitals
were quartered in three small buildings.5

Colonel James Biddle, of the Seventy-first Indiana
Volunteers, commanded the camp. Most of his regiment,
captured by Morgan at Muldraugh's Hill, Kentucky, on
December 28, and paroled on the field, were now at Camp
Morton awaiting exchange. The 250 men of the regiment
not on parole were assigned to guard the prisoners, with two
companies of the Sixty-third assisting them. Other admin-
istrative officers included Captain Ekin, of the quartermaster
department, and his assistant, Captain L. L. Moore, who also
had charge of the camp commissary. No issues of clothes
were deemed necessary, for the prisoners had arrived warmly,
if not uniformly clad, and most of them in possession of
blankets. Supplies, furnished by Captain Thomas Foster, Jr.,
assistant commissary of subsistence, were rated as "good and
wholesome in all parts," and the ration was mentioned as
quite sufficient. Bread still came from the bakehouse managed
by the state quartermaster general.

Assistant Surgeon A. N. Weir, of the Seventy-first
Indiana, headed the medical department, with two Indianapolis
physicians, Dr. David Funkhouser and Dr. Patrick H. Jame-
son, employed by contract as assistants. Funkhouser was the
only one of these physicians who continued active at the camp
during the summer. Although patients crowded the two hos-
pital buildings, a camp inspector reported on March 24 that
the cases were all old ones, principally wounded, and that under
the circumstances the total of twenty-three deaths since the
end of January was not alarming. No cases of smallpox had
appeared.6 His report seems unduly cheerful, for Dr. Funk-

5Official Records, 2 series, V, 227-28, 239-40, 391-92.
9 Ibid., V, 391-92.

CAMP MORTON 317

houser announced in the Indianapolis Sentinel two days later
that the wounded prisoners had been almost entirely without
rags and bandages for some time, and entreated "humanely
disposed" citizens of Indianapolis to contribute supplies.7

Whatever the lacks in camp and hospital equipment, the
prisoners at Camp Morton at this period seemed to the in-
spector more cheerful and happy than at other posts. Besides
being cleanly in appearance and performing the required police
duties with willingness and alacrity, they showed a healthy zest
for games and exercise that was uncommon in a prison camp.

Their imprisonment lasted less than three months. Ex-
change of enlisted men was still progressing, although
indignation at the attitude of the Confederates toward com-
manders of negro troops had put an end to the exchange of
officers.8 The prisoners from Camp Morton were ordered to
City Point, Virginia, and on April 6 and 23 almost six hundred
began the long journey. Some of the wounded had to be taken
to the station in wagons and ambulances, while many more
hobbled along with the aid of canes ; such a trip was a severe
test of their fortitude and endurance.9

Authorities rejoiced to see them go. Ever since the draft
of August, 1862, opposition to the administration and the
war had come more and more into the open. In December,
Colonel Henry B. Carrington felt impelled to report to the
Secretary of War the spread in Indiana of a secret order which
incited the desertion of soldiers with their arms, furthered
resistance to arrest of deserters, and exerted its influence to
stop enlistments and prevent the carrying out of the draft.10

In March, 1863, at Governor Morton's request, Carrington
forwarded a memorandum on continued activities of the
Knights of the Golden Circle i11 in several counties arrest of
deserters had met with armed resistance ; nearly 30,000 arms
had entered the state in February and March alone, and

'Indianapolis Sentinel, March 26, 1863, p. 3, c. 2.

^Official Records, 2 series, V, 192-93, 199, 234-35, 3 18, 706.

*Ibid., V, 357; Indianapolis Journal, April 7, 1863, p. 3, c. 1 ; Indianapolis
Sentinel, April 23, 1863, p. 3, c. 3.

"Official Records, 2 series, V, 108.

xlIbid., V, 363-67. The names "Order of American Knights" and "Sons
of Liberty" were used later.

318 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

plans had been discussed contemplating the seizure of the
arsenal, railroads, and telegraph ; kegs of powder were being
smuggled in in boxes marked "nails" or "pickaxes." Carring-
ton said that Indiana membership in the order had been put
at 92,000 persons, and with lodges in all but seven counties, he
was inclined to believe the number might not be extravagant.12
Bitterness and recklessness were becoming more evident day
by day. "I am convinced," said Carrington, "that the tension
cannot long last; reaction or violence is certain."

It seemed to Morton, Carrington, and Brigadier General
Orlando B. Willcox, commanding the military district of
Indiana and Michigan, no time to introduce a large body of
prisoners into the distraught community. Camp Morton was
a big place, and at least six companies would be required to
guard it efficiently. No one wanted to spare so many men
for guard duty when there was every chance that disturbances
in the state would require their services, or that General
Morgan might suddenly appear north of the Ohio and start
raiding operations in Indiana. Turning the camp over to
prisoners also meant that some other place had to be found for
assembling Indiana recruits or paroled troops.

Hoffman saw clearly enough that the camp system was
inadequate and inconvenient, and suggested the building of
one big depot capable of holding eight or ten thousand
prisoners, but his estimate that the cost would run to $50,000
quashed any interest the War Department might have had in
the idea.13 The old camps had to serve.

The next group of prisoners to arrive at Camp Morton
came from Gallatin, Tennessee, late in May. Grant's success-
ful operations near Vicksburg provided a much larger install-
ment within the week, when 4,400 Confederates were sent
north to be divided between Camp Morton and Fort Delaware.
Three trainloads came in on the afternoon of June 2, and
once again the townspeople turned out to watch their entry.
Ragged and travel-stained as they were, they had a hardy,

12Logan Esarey, in his History of Indiana, II, 781, says there "were per-
haps 50,000 members" in 1863.

^Official Records, 2 series, V, 511-13-

CAMP MORTON 319

vigorous appearance that was commented on by both the
Journal and the Sentinel. On the next day, the remainder of
the 4,400 arrived. Their officers, scheduled to go on to Camp
Johnson, were fed and lodged for the night at the Soldiers'
Home, which had been built the preceding summer to provide
temporary shelter and refreshment for transient soldiers.14

A group of conscripted East Tennesseans among the
prisoners attracted much attention. Their petition to take the
oath of allegiance and enlist with the Union troops was
warmly seconded by the Journal, which described them en-
thusiastically as "great stalwart men with frames like giants,
bare-footed, bronzed with exposure, hardy as their own hills, as
brave as men can be."15 The War Department had frowned
on the enlistment of prisoners of war, but the practice had
continued sporadically at the camps, and Secretary Stanton
was soon to give it his approval.16 At Camp Morton, 250
Tennesseans took the oath of allegiance some time before
June 12, and immediately enlisted — 50 in the Seventy-first
Indiana, 50 in the batteries, 155 in the Fifth Tennessee
Cavalry. Quite a parade was made of the departure of this
last group for Lexington on June 13. With an escort from
the Seventy-first Indiana they marched down Pennsylvania
Street to Market and through the heart of town to the Union Sta-
tion where they entrained with rousing cheers for the Union.17

Willcox protested to Hoffman on June 11 that it was
highly impolitic to keep the prisoners at Indianapolis, and
asked where he could send them. Hoffman telegraphed per-
mission to forward them to Fort Delaware, but it appears from
the record that Willcox had started most of them to Camp
Chase before Hoffman's message was received (there were
only 1 1 1 prisoners in the camp on July 1 ) . In a letter written

"Indianapolis Sentinel, May 30, 1863, p. 3, c. 1 ; June 3, p. 3, c. 3 ; June
4, P- 3, c. 3 ; June 8, p. 3, c. 1 ; June 12, p. 3, c. 1 ; Indianapolis Journal,
June 1, 1863, p. 3, c. 1 ; June 3, p. 3, c. 3 ; June 4, p. 3, c. 2, 4 ; Official Records,
2 series, V, 722, 728.

"Indianapolis Journal, June 12, 1863, p. 2, c. 2-3.

lr'Official Records, 2 series, V, 242, 297, 345, 381-82, 446, 659, 669, 707;
VI, 31, 186.

"Indianapolis Journal, June 12, 1863, p. 3, c. 1, 2; June 15, p. 3, c. 2, 3 ;
Indianapolis Sentinel, June 12, 1863, p. 3, c. 1 ; June 15, p. 3, c. 2.

320 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

the same day, the Commissary General of Prisoners made it
perfectly plain that Camp Morton could not be dispensed
with, for the other camps were not much better able to hold
the prisoners securely, and altogether would not accommodate
more than twelve or fifteen thousand.18 He pointed out that
recent exchanges had released all of the Seventy-first (Biddle's
regiment), the Fifty-first, and Sixty-third Indiana regiments,
which could be assigned as guards.19 Willcox acknowledged
this letter with a reiterated warning that Camp Morton was
no safe spot for prisoners.20

A week after Willcox had hustled off most of his prisoners,
Captain Thomas H. Hines, of Morgan's Cavalry, crossed the
Ohio into Perry County with less than a hundred men. For
a soul-satisfying day, he proceeded calmly through the country
toward Paoli in the guise of a Union officer in search of
deserters. He actually arrested two. Whenever he saw a
promising cavalry mount, he gathered it in, leaving the owner
in happy possession of a broken-down horse and a generous
voucher on the Federal quartermaster at Indianapolis. But
the next day his secret was out, and Hines fell into the hands
of a conscripted "guide" as impudent as himself. Under
pretext of eluding the Legion companies which were springing
to action on right and left, the guide led him to Blue River
Island, with the assurance that it was a practicable fording
point. It was, as far as the island, but on the southern side the
current ran deep and strong. By the time the Confederates
had made their devious and long-drawn-out march to the
island, Indiana legionnaires were in position to block retreat.
They opened fire, killing several Confederates and wounding
several more. Hines made his escape by swimming the river,
but fifty men and two officers were captured and dispatched
to Louisville.21 This incursion, brief and ineffective as it
was, had no soothing effect on Indianapolis.

^Official Records, 2 series, V, 441 ; VI, 3 5 Indianapolis Sentinel, June
12, 1863, p. 3, c. 1 ; June 13, p. 3, c. 2.

"Official Records, 2 series, V, 400, 408, 409, 414, 584, 735.

"Ibid., VI, 19-20.

aTerrell, Report, I, 161-65; Indianapolis Journal, June 23, 1863, p. 2, c.
1-2; Louis B. Ewbank, Morgan's Raid in Indiana (Indiana Historical Society
Publications, VII, no. 2, Indianapolis), 135-39 ; Basil W. Duke, History of
Morgan's Cavalry (Cincinnati, 1867), 430-31.

' CAMP MORTON 321

Two weeks later came the word that General John Morgan
had started north through Kentucky. To help repel this in-
vasion, practically all the United States troops in Indianapolis
were ordered to Louisville, leaving the city thinly guarded by
two companies of the Sixty-third Indiana, some hundreds of
recently exchanged prisoners of the Fifty- first and Seventy-
third regiments, and a few recruits. Into the general gloom
trickled news of victories at Gettysburg and Vicksburg, and on
July 7 the citizens celebrated with bonfires, fireworks, and
speeches. Next day they heard that Morgan had crossed the
Ohio at Brandenburg.22

Out from Governor Morton's office on Thursday, July 9,
went a general order to all able-bodied men in the several
counties south of the National Road to form themselves into
companies of at least sixty persons, elect officers, and arm
themselves as best they could. In Indianapolis alarm bells
summoned the townspeople to listen to an order closing
all places of business at three o'clock that afternoon, so
that military companies might be formed in preparation
for possible danger.

Reports credited Morgan with at least four thousand men
and four pieces of artillery. Morton and Willcox both feared
that he might move directly on the capital to release rebel
prisoners, destroy the arsenal with all its arms and ammunition,
and perhaps burn the city. The Governor asked for the return
of the Seventy-first Indiana and Myer's Battery, which had
been recently sent to Kentucky, and then hesitated to trust
them to the railroad for fear they would be derailed or
entrapped on route by the Confederates.

A city regiment was organized almost overnight, and
drilled in University Square, while eight additional companies
were forming in various wards. Banks had sent their specie
northward for safety; business houses, except for the grocery

22For accounts of Morgan's raid, see Terrell, Report, I, 165-202, and
Appendix, pp. 279-80; Duke, History of Morgan's Cavalry, 430-39; Basil W.
Duke, Orlando B. Willcox, and Thomas H. Hines, "A Romance of Morgan's
Rough Riders," in Century, XLI, 402-25 (January, 1891) ; Ewbank, Morgans
Raid, 140-83 ; Foulke, Life of Morton, I, 278-85 ; Official Records, 1 series,
XXIII, pt. 1, 632 f f. ; Holliday, Indianapolis and the Civil War, 582-83 ;
Indianapolis Journal, July 15, 1863, p. 2, c. 2-4.

322 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

stores and newspapers, shut their doors. For three days armed
men poured into the city. By Saturday the streets were
crowded, camp fires burned in every grove, and Morton had
to ask that no more men be sent. Occasionally the alarm bell
rang, but Morgan did not come, and on the fourteenth it was
established that he had moved out of Indiana into Ohio.

No miracle of restraint could have concealed from the
prisoners the flurry and bustle in the near-by barracks. How
soon they discovered that Morgan was on the march we have
no way of knowing, but if, as Carrington suspected, they had
contacts with secession sympathizers in the vicinity, they
probably guessed why Colonel Biddle and his regiment were
suddenly withdrawn, and why the camp was left in charge of
Captain Albert J. Guthridge and a curtailed guard.

Their last hope of a dramatic rescue died on July 23, when
eleven hundred of Morgan's men who had been captured in
Ohio were brought to join them.23 A hundred more arrived
a week later.24

No other prisoners ever confined at Camp Morton excited
such interest as the men from Morgan's command. After
their spectacular will-o'-the-wisp flight through the southern
counties, it seemed almost incredible that they could be clapped
into a prison camp like ordinary mortals. They were subjected
to the thorough search which all prisoners had to undergo.
This one proved unusually productive, for spoils of the raid
began to appear in little wads of greenbacks — $20 extracted
from one man's pipe bowl, $1,100 from another's canteen.25

After this initiation, the prisoners were allowed more than
the usual latitude in receiving visitors. This was doubtless
due to the slackening of camp discipline under temporary
commandants. Guthridge, Biddle's immediate successor, had
served only until July 23, 26 when he was relieved by Captain

23Indianapolis Sentinel, July 24, 1863, p. 3, c. 1 ; July 25, p. 3, c. 1 ; In-
dianapolis Journal, July 25, 1863, p. 2, c. 1, p. 3, c. 1, 2.

2iIbid., July 30, 1863, p. 3, c. 3.

"-'Ibid., July 27, 1863, p. 2, c. 1.

2uPost Special Orders 15, Indianapolis, July 23, 1863, Newton D. Mer-
eness Calendar of Papers from the National Archives (hereafter cited as
Mereness Calendar), War Department, Northern Department Orders, Vol.
116, pp. 48-49.

CAMP MORTON 323

David W. Hamilton, of the Seventh Indiana. Hamilton
was a native of Kentucky, and many of Morgan's men came
from wealthy and respected Kentucky families. Hardly had
they reached Camp Morton, wrote an outraged and anonymous
observer to Colonel Hoffman, "until their friends crowded
to see them, furnishing them with money and clothing and
various articles of food, treating and talking to them as
martyrs and heroes. ... I am informed," continued the
writer, "that the permission to visit these rebels comes from
General Burnside and General Willcox, and you can see at
the Bates House ladies and gentlemen from Kentucky flourish-
ing their permits and boasting of the prowess of their relatives
in the Confederate Army/'27 There is evidence that some of
the visitors were loyal Unionists, come to beg their sons to
take the oath of allegiance. They had no success with Morgan's
ardent young followers.28

Taking due notice of the questionable form in which these
charges were made, Hoffman referred them to the Secretary
of War, who sent dispatches to Burnside, Willcox, and Morton
directing them to correct any undesirable laxness. Restrictions
were put into effect at once,29 greatly to the relief of Lieutenant
Edward J. Robinson, newly appointed to act as commissary of
prisoners at Camp Morton. He had reached the camp on
July 8, to find "no rolls or books, and everything in confusion
in all matters pertaining to prisoners of war and the camp
in general." The appearance of the Morgan prisoners and
their visitors had increased confusion to a point where Robin-
son found himself grudgingly "waiting on them all day" and
compelled to work on the prison rolls at night.30

Inside the camp, the Morgan raiders proved equally dis-
turbing. They made trouble among the other prisoners, and
there were quarrels and riots that called for interference from
the guards. A particular antipathy showed itself between
this group and the Tennesseans, several hundred of whom

^Official Records, 2 series, VI, 162-63.
28Indianapolis Journal, July 27, 1863, p. 2, c. 1.

^Ibid., July 29, 1863, p. 3, c. 3 ; August 15, p. 3, c. 2 ; Indianapolis Sentinel,
August 6, 1863, p. 3, c. 1 ; Official Records, 2 series, VI, 257.
"Ibid., VI, 195.

324 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

,

were proposing to take the oath of allegiance and enlis
as Union soldiers.31

During the first two weeks of August eighteen hundred
Confederates taken at the siege of Port Hudson, Louisiana,
and in the campaign around Jackson, Tennessee, brought the
total of prisoners at Camp Morton to about three thousand.
According to the Indianapolis Sentinel, they were divided in
the following proportions : from Tennessee, 830 ; Kentucky,
680; Arkansas, 631; Mississippi, 331; Alabama, 131; Louisi-
ana, 106; Georgia, 106; Florida, 50; South Carolina, 51;
North Carolina, 50. Over eleven hundred men, including most
of Morgan's raiders, were transferred to Camp Douglas on
August 17 and 18, and comparative quiet settled down on
Camp Morton. About fifteen hundred prisoners remained
in the squalid and unhealthy camp. Twenty-six men had died
there during August, and ninety-eight were on the sick list.32

Inadequate hospital facilities had been worrying the medical
officers all spring and summer. The addition to the City
Hospital, built for prisoners from the prisoners' fund, had
been gradually appropriated for Union wounded during the
last quarter of 1862 and the first quarter of 1863, when there
were very few Confederates at Camp Morton. When the
problem of accommodating prisoner sick arose again with the
arrival of prisoners from the Vicksburg campaign, there were
two possible ways of meeting it: (1) the Union soldiers
could be turned out of one wing of the City Hospital and the
Confederates moved in, in which case a new hospital would
have to be built to take care of the Federal overflow; (2) the
Union soldiers could be left in possession of the City Hospital
and new quarters provided for the rebels at Camp Morton.

Local officials inclined to the second plan, which would
keep the two groups of hospital cases entirely separate and

31Indianapolis Journal, August 18, 1863, p. 3, c. 2 ; September 23, p. 3,
c. 1 ; Post Special Orders, 34, 36, and 38, Indianapolis, August 19, 22, and
24, 1863, Mereness Calendar, War Department, Northern Department Orders,
Vol. 116, pp. 59-61. One of the prisoners who took the oath and enlisted in
the Seventh Cavalry came off winner in a buffalo chase held at the Fair-
grounds in September.

"Indianapolis Journal, August 3, 1863, p. 3, c. 1 ; August 8, p. 3, c. 2, 3 ;
August 15, p. 3, c. 2; Indianapolis Sentinel, August 19, 1863, p. 3, c. 2

CAMP MORTON 325

eliminate the necessity for extra guards outside the camp. If
it had been promptly carried out, their choice would have
seemed a sensible one, but they neglected to report the circum-
stances to the Commissary General of Prisoners, and the result
was an agonizing delay. Meanwhile, the number of prisoners
in camp doubled and trebled, and the need grew desperate.

Captain Ekin, of the quartermaster's department, tele-
graphed to Commissary General Meigs early in June that
additional hospital space was "required" at Camp Morton, and
suggested that a temporary addition to the old hospital building
would meet the "emergency" economically. Four days later
he telegraphed again that the situation was urgent.33 There
was no immediate response, but some weeks later a medical
inspector, making the rounds of prison camps to report on the
causes of sickness and mortality, stopped at Camp Morton.34

He found the hospital capacity limited to eighty-three old
wooden bunks, some of them occupied by two patients.
Bedding was scanty. Even air space was woefully limited — in
some wards not more than 350 cubic feet per man, so that on
a blistering summer day the quarters must have been stifling.
A faulty diet, lacking in vegetables except for an occasional
issue of potatoes, also operated against quick recoveries. In-
spector Humphreys earnestly recommended increased accom-
modations, and Dr. Bobbs followed up with a request for
permission to buy ice for the hospitals.35

Some of the illness was attributed by Humphreys to the
poor drainage of the camp. The little ditch which the prisoners
called "the Potomac" was flooded in the rainy seasons, while
in hot dry weather it disappeared except for a few stagnant
pools. In these the prisoners washed their clothes. Camp
police was bad, sinks were filthy, and barracks were over-
crowded. Finally, many of the prisoners disregarded all rules
of cleanliness and were consequently "profusely verminous."

From this report, forwarded to him from the Surgeon

''Official Records, 2 series, V, 741, 762.

^Report of Lewis Humphreys, July 3, 1863, photostat in Indiana Di-
vision, Indiana State Library, from War Department, Northern Department
Letter Books, Vol. 199, pp. 38-40.

'"Ibid., p. 38.

326 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

General's office, Colonel Hoffman apparently received his
first intimation that the new wing of the City Hospital was
no longer at the disposal of Confederate prisoners. On July
16, 1863, he wrote to General Willcox asking for information,
and expressing his desire that the building be used for the
purpose for which it had been erected. Willcox thereupon
ordered Bobbs to remove part of the Federal sick from the
City Hospital and release one wing for prisoners.30

Dr. Bobbs was in a most uncomfortable position. He knew
the storm that such a move would provoke, for many citizens
were already passionately indignant at the hardships Union
prisoners had suffered at Libby and Belle Isle prisons in
Richmond, and some had gone so far as to advocate retaliation.
Bobbs hastily filed his objections with the Medical Director
of the Department of the Ohio, pointing out the practical
difficulties involved in carrying out the order, and the certainty
of resentment and exasperation among the people of Indiana.
At the same time he emphasized the immediate need for enlarge-
ment of the hospital at Camp Morton. The result was the
suspension of Willcox's order, and instructions to place the
Confederate sick in tents if necessary.37 Bobbs could only
hope that a new appeal through the quartermaster's depart-
ment would be more effective. In the meantime some tents
were put into service for hospital cases.38

After reading the official reports referred to above, it is
difficult to explain an item which appeared in the Indianapolis
Sentinel of August 28, quoting Dr. Funkhouser to the effect
that hospital arrangements at Camp Morton were admirable,
and that everything necessary was done for the comfort of
sick rebel prisoners in the city.39 It is probable that camp

^Official Records, 2 series, VI, 122-23; Bobbs to W. H. Church, Medical
Director, Department of the Ohio, July 26, 1863, photostat, in Indiana
Division, Indiana State Library, from War Department, Northern Depart-
ment Letter Books, Vol. 199, pp. 51-53.

37Bobbs to Church, op. cit.

38Bobbs to Ekin, July 24, 1863, and Ekin to Meigs, same date, Mereness
Calendar, War Department, Quartermaster General, Letters Received ; Bobbs
to J. T. Carpenter, Cincinnati, Ohio, September 10, 1863, ibid., War Depart-
ment, Northern Department Letter Books, Vol. 199, pp. 91-92.

39Indianapolis Sentinel, August 28, 1863, p. 3, c. 1.

CAMP MORTON 327

officials were guarding against any public outcry on behalf
of the prisoners that might provide fuel for secession sym-
pathizers. A similar item, appearing a few days later and
commenting on the issue of blankets to the prisoners during
the recent cool weather, ended with a distinct note of self-
satisfaction : "We certainly, here in Indiana, will treat our
prisoners of war as men unfortunately in our hands, and we
ardently hope that brave and gallant Hoosiers in limbo in the
South will be likewise looked after."40

Actually conditions grew steadily worse, and there was no
hope for improvement as long as command of the camp con-
tinued to be transferred at short intervals. Hamilton, who
had taken charge on July 23, was transferred elsewhere some-
time before September 23, and Captain Guthridge was recalled
for a second brief term as stop-gap commandant.41

The guards at Camp Morton during this period were the
Fifty-first and Seventy-third Indiana regiments, whose offi-
cers were still held prisoners at Richmond. Several months
on parole, and the lack of any commissioned officers except
seven who had been recently appointed, had left them badly
demoralized and undisciplined.42 Quick to take advantage of
a slack guard, numbers of prisoners started laying plans for
escape. One group, after working for twelve days on a tunnel
under the north fence of the enclosure, was betrayed on the
eve of escape ; several other groups were caught after they had
got outside the enclosure ; but thirty- five men got safely awray
between the first of August and the end of October.43

In September, Medical Inspector Humphreys visited Camp
Morton again, and added to his earlier complaints other dis-
tressing comments : there were dead animals near the camp ;
the post-mortem rooms and dead house were not in good

"'Ibid., August 31, 1863, p. 3, c. 1.

41The date of the transfer has not been found. Hamilton was still in
command on August 25 (Indianapolis Journal, August 25, 1863, p. 3, c. 2),
and Guthridge had succeeded him by September 23 (ibid., September 23,
1863, p. 3, c. 1).

^Official Records, 2 series, VI, 143-44, 492-93-

iZPost, p. 379; Indianapolis Journal, September 23, 1863, p. 3, c. 1 ; Indian-
apolis Sentinel, September 24, 1863, p. 3, c. 2.

328 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

condition ; the largest barracks was unfit for winter use.44 But
this was mild in comparison with the scorching report made
on October 22 by Augustus M. Clark, another medical inspector.
It is quoted in full because it covers the physical condition of
the camp with such thoroughness, and shows the difficult situ-
ation faced by the commandant who took office on that date :45
"Designation of camp — Camp Morton. Commander of
camp — Captain Guthridge, Forty-eighth Indiana Volunteers,
this day relieved by Colonel Stevens, Invalid Corps. Command
and strength — prisoners, rebel officers, 7; rebel soldiers, 2,325 ;
civilians, 30 ; total, 2,362. Location of camp — one mile and a
half north of Indianapolis, Ind. Time occupied — about
eighteen months. Water, source and supply — by pumps from
wells, five in number ; supply, sufficient. Water, quality and
effects — good, slightly alkaline. Fuel — wood and coal. Soil —
clay and sand, muddy. Drainage — bad from want of atten-
tion; ditches and drains choked with rubbish. Topography —
ground level, some trees, deep ditch, formerly bed of a creek
running through middle of camp. Police of camp — very
bad. Discipline in camp — lax. Tents or huts, position — bar-
racks on north and west sides of square. Tents or huts, pattern
and quality — one story and in dilapidated condition. Tents or
huts, ventilation — only ventilated from dilapidation. Tents
or huts, sufficiency — the barracks at present used for prison
purposes are sufficient for 2,000 to 2,200 prisoners. Tents
or huts, heating — stoves in a few of the barracks. Sinks,
construction — exceedingly faulty, two excavations about twenty
feet long, five feet wide, two feet deep, entirely open. Sinks,
condition and position — very foul, one on north side about 25
feet in rear of barracks; on west side about 100 feet in
rear. Sinks, management — no management at all. Removal
of offal, &c. — unattended to; the central ditch is a general
receptacle for refuse of all kinds. Previous use of camp —
State fair-ground. Rations — abundant and of good quality.
Cooking in camp — by prisoners over camp-fires. Inspection

"Quoted in John M. Cuyler to the Surgeon General, October 13, 1863,
photostat in Indiana Division, Indiana State Library, from War Depart-
ment, Northern Department Letter Books, Vol. 199, pp. 1 18-19.

450fficial Records, 2 series, VI, 424-26.

CAMP MORTON 329

of food — said to be inspected by commanding officer. Portable
ovens — none, bread furnished by commissary. Vegetables —
potatoes only.

"Cleanliness of men and clothing — foul; bathing and
laundry facilities entirely insufficient. Quality and quantity
of clothing obtained from quartermaster's department — suf-
ficient. Blankets and bedding — insufficient both in hospital
and camp; no satisfactory reason given therefor. Condition
of men — in barracks, exceedingly foul; in hospital, miserable.
Hospital buildings — two, one dilapidated and utterly unfit for
use; the other (former guard-house) in good condition, but
much overcrowded. Hospital tents — six, destitute of stoves
or other means of heating. Hospital police — very much
neglected, especially in cook-house, which is in filthy condition.
Hospital discipline — none to speak of. Hospital diet and
cooking — very little if any attention paid by officers. Hospital
heat and ventilation — heated sufficiently by stoves except in
tents ; the guard-house ward is properly ventilated, the other
only by dilapidation. Hospital capacity — 36 in tents, 12 in
guard-house ward; total, 48. Number sick — 216; of these 125
are in barracks who should be in hospital and well taken care
of. State of medical supplies — sufficient, but very disorderly
kept. State of surgical instruments — none in hospital. State
of hospital records — carelessly kept. State of hospital fund —
$368, September 30, 1863. Reports — carelessly made. Medi-
cal attendance — virtually none. Nursing — by prisoners.
Interments — by contract. Diseases, local — pulmonic, diarrhea,
several cases of scurvy. Diseases, prevention of — no care
taken. Recoveries from diseases — slow and uncertain. Mor-
tality from diseases — during the month of September 23 out
of 183 patients died, being over 12.45 Per cent- Medical
officer — Acting Assistant Surgeon Funkhauser. This officer
is utterly unfit for the post he holds. I am informed that his
contract is for $100 per month. This requires him to devote
his whole time to his hospital and camp duties to the exclusion
of all outside business. I am also informed that he has a large
outside practice, and that he usually (and sometimes omitting
even this) visits the camp not to exceed half an hour daily,
leaving the almost entire charge of the sick and everything

330 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

pertaining to the sanitary management of the camp to an
enlisted man, who, though he has paid some attention to the
study of medicine, and endeavors to do his best, is entirely
unequal to the proper discharge of these duties. As a conse-
quence of this the sick are neglected or improperly treated : the
ratio of mortality is unwarrantably large, the hospital is in a
most lamentable condition, and the general sanitary manage-
ment of the camp is utterly neglected. I would respectfully
suggest that this officer be at once removed and a competent
man assigned in his stead.

"As the foregoing report will show, this camp is a disgrace
to the name of military prison. It is filthy in every respect.
The vicinity of the sinks is obvious for many yards around,
they being perfectly open; no attempt made to disinfect them.
They are, moreover, insufficient in number. The seven rebel
officers confined here are crowded into a small room about
ten by twelve and eight feet high. In this they sleep, live, and
cook. There are good natural facilities for drainage, but the
drains are choked with rubbish, and the large central ditch is
a grand receptacle for the refuse of the whole camp. The
main hospital ward is in so dilapidated a condition that the
patients are obliged to fasten their blankets along the wall for
partial protection from wind and weather, and are thus de-
prived of the necessary covering. In fact, every patient whom
I examined had more or less of pulmonary trouble accompany-
ing his disease, whatever it might be. The hospital cookhouse
was in filthy condition, and the food which had just been
prepared for dinner at the time of my visit was most miserably
cooked. I found the bath and wash house used for storing
straw for bedding. The hospital fund is not expended with
sufficient freedom in procuring comforts for the sick, nor
could I ascertain that any account of the less perishable articles,
as table furniture, &c, purchased from the fund is kept. The
commanding officer states that he has been directed to erect
two additional hospital barracks, but they are not as yet com-
menced. The prison fund on hand September 30, 1863, was

CAMP MORTON 331

$959.68. This fund is drawn on for repairs, cooking, police,
utensils, &c, of which an account is kept.

A. M. Clark,

Surgeon
and Acting Medical Inspector of Prisoners of War/'

On the strength of this report, Hoffman refused to allow
Funkhouser's account for services, and wrote to the Surgeon
General asking that "a competent surgeon with an assist-
ant ... be ordered for duty at the camp without delay."46
Funkhouser defended himself against Clark's charges, asserting
that he had visited all patients at least once every day, and
usually twice, in addition to looking after the men of the Fifth
Regiment, Invalid Corps, recently quartered at Camp Burnside.
"It is no fault of mine," he said bitterly, "that the Hospital
Buildings have been exceedingly defective consisting of several
old rickety sheds, a few Hospital tents together with some
Wall and Bell Tents and Boards put together according to no
well established Style of architecture, which doubtless have
prejudiced in some degree the mind of Med. Inspector Clark.
Better buildings you are aware were ordered, sometime ago,
but for good reasons doubtless their construction has been
delayed." Bobbs supported him, and asked for further con-
sideration of the case, but Funkhouser was replaced by
Dr. W. A. Johnson.47

The "better buildings" which Funkhouser mentioned, were
two new hospital wards, which were not opened until Decem-
ber, 1863, and were not even then complete. They were
designed to increase the hospital capacity to 160, allowing 800
cubic feet of air to each patient, and could be made to accom-
modate more than that number in emergencies. These wards
were built by the quartermaster's department; to pay for

iQOfficial Records, 2 series, VI, 442-43.

47Funkhouser to Bobbs, November 14, 1863, and Bobbs to Ekin, Novem-
ber 20, photostat in Indiana Division, Indiana State Library, from War
Department, Northern Department Letter Books, Vol. 199, pp. 137-40; Bobbs
to R. C. Wood, Louisville, Kentucky, February 27, and March 4, 1864,
Mereness Calendar, War Department, Northern Department Letter Books,
Vol. 199, pp. 325, 345 ; Official Records, 2 series, VI, 879.

332 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

them, an exchange for the prisoners' wing of the City Hospital
was suggested, and may have been made.48

48Indianapolis Sentinel, November 2, 1863, p. 3, c. 2 ; Ekin to Quarter-
master General Meigs, October 31, 1863, Mereness Calendar, War Depart-
ment, Quartermaster General, Letters Received ; Official Records, 2 series,
VI, 879, 880; Carnahan, Camp Morton, 21-22.

VI. REORGANIZATION UNDER COLONEL
STEVENS, 1863-64

Colonel Ambrose A. Stevens, the new commandant, was
regarded as a capable and intelligent officer. He had
served as lieutenant colonel and colonel with the Michigan
troops, was wounded at Perrysville, Kentucky, in October,

1862, and resigned the next February. When the Invalid
Corps, later the Veteran Reserve Corps,1 was created, Stevens
received an appointment as major of the Fifth Regiment.
This regiment was ordered to Indianapolis early in September,

1863, to relieve the Indiana troops on guard at Camp
Morton. On September 25, Stevens was advanced to a
colonelcy, and on October 22, was placed in command of
Camp Morton.2

Stevens held this position until the end of the war, and was
accounted an admirable commandant by the authorities, who
were chiefly interested in preventing disturbances at the camp.
His talents were not sufficiently diverse to make him entirely
successful: although he was well-intentioned, he lacked dis-
cernment and intuition in dealing with the prisoners, and he
was not impelled by the zeal on their behalf which made Owen
unique among camp commandants.3

Thomas Sturgis, in Prisoners of War, 1861-65 (G. P. Putnam's Sons,
1912) 268-69, gives an amusing explanation of the change of name. The
Invalid Corps was recruited for guard and garrison duty from men who
were incapacitated for active service by wounds or disease. They wore on
their light blue uniforms the insignia I. C, also used by the quartermaster's
department to designate property which had been "inspected and condemned."
The rebels soon learned the double significance of the lettering and joyously
christened the Invalid Corps the "Condemned Yanks." To rescue its gallant
veterans from this unholy ridicule, the Government renamed the Corps
Veteran Reserves.

2Francis B. Heitman, Historical Register . . . of the United States
Army . . ., I (Washington, D. C, 1903), p. 922; Indianapolis Journal,
September 11, 1863, p. 3, c. 1; October 27, p. 3, c. 1. The Fifty-first and
Seventy-third Indiana regiments, which had been guarding prisoners, left
for Tennessee on October 23. Ibid., October 26, 1863, p. 3, c. 1.

3Terrell, Report, I, Appendix, p. 285 ; Indianapolis Sentinel, July 30,

1864, p. 3, c. 1 ; Official Records, 2 series, VII, 71 ; Carnahan, Camp Morton,
19.

(333)

334 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

His first report indicates his limitations. Hoffman had
sent him a copy of the rules governing prisoners' camps, and
asked for a full report on conditions at Camp Morton. Stevens'
reply was made on November 9, after a little more than two
weeks in his new post.4 It is a short, colorless document,
substantiating without comment or amplification the criticisms
made by Inspector Clark.5

Stevens devoted more than half his letter to the shortcom-
ings of the old guard and his plans for the new one. As a
preventive against further escapes, the daily patrols had been
increased from 141 to 160 men, and again to 200, a number
that he thought might be reduced if the guards had revolvers
in addition to their muskets.6 The unfitness of the barracks
for winter occupancy and the insufficiency of the hospitals
were disposed of in two sentences, and the proposed remedies
in two more : "New and commodious hospitals are at present
being erected for the accommodation of the sick. Repairing
of the barracks had been commenced by Captain Guthridge,
former commandant, which are now being continued, and when
completed will be capable of accommodating 3,000 prisoners."

Stevens might have expatiated a little on these matters, for
the "commodious" new hospitals were designed to care for
only 160 cases while the sick list was over two hundred, and
already the number of prisoners in camp was nearing or had
passed the three thousand mark. He might have mentioned
also that repairs to the barracks did not go beyond the squeez-
ing in of extra bunks and a coat of whitewash. They remained
unfloored, badly heated, and badly ventilated.

Reaching the subject of the prisoners, Stevens contented
himself with remarking: "I found the prisoners generally
supplied with necessaries, though in a poor state of health. The
cause I am unable to determine, as our own troops quartered
near them and equally crowded enjoyed excellent health."

'Official Records, 2 series, VI, 445-46.

5 Ibid., VI, 492-93-

6On November 27, 1863, Hoffman recommended to Stanton that 400
revolvers and 25,000 rounds of ammunition be sent to each prison camp. Camp
Morton received its share early in December. Official Records, 2 series,
VI, 584, 650.

CAMP MORTON 335

Unfortunately for the prisoners then at Camp Morton and
in all the other stations north and south, the Union and Con-
federate governments had reached an impasse on the subject
of exchanges.7 While the agents of the two governments
quarreled over terms of parole, equivalents, and the status of
negro soldiers, the despondent prisoners watched their hopes
of early release dwindle and disappear. Public indignation at
the interruption of exchange was fed by the efforts of each
government to fasten the blame on the other. In the North,
ugly stories about the southern prisons were given much prom-
inence, and Secretary Stanton began to threaten retaliation. On
November 9, 1863, he wrote to Major General Ethan A.
Hitchcock, Union commissioner for exchange :8 "You will
please report what measures you have taken to ascertain the
treatment of United States prisoners by the rebels at Rich-
mond, and you are directed to take measures for precisely
similar treatment toward all the prisoners held by the United
States, in respect to food, clothing, medical treatment, and
other necessaries."

Hitchcock replied that if treatment of Union prisoners at
Richmond was what rumor represented, retaliation "would
result in an uprising of the prisoners against their guards at
Camps Morton and Chase," and probably at other places where
the means of security were slender.9 General Halleck deplored
the adoption of a retaliatory policy on the more lofty ground that
resort to "this extreme right," though fully justified by the laws
and usages of war, was revolting to the sense of humanity.10
What followed was a series of everchanging regulations,
based one moment on the theory that what was good enough
for a Union prisoner was good enough for a Confederate,
and the next on the theory that the Federal Government must
uphold a standard of generous treatment to prisoners of war.
It was difficult for the North to defend the imposition of
unnecessary hardships on prisoners, in view of its relatively
ample resources of money and food. The medical inspectors

7Hesseltine, Civil War Prisons, 99-113.
^Official Records, 2 series, VI, 485-
•Ibid., VI, 486.
"Ibid., VI, 523-24.

336 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

had no sympathy with such a policy, and the public, though
it might clamor for retaliation, abhorred it in practice. As a
result of this uncertain course, camp commanders had to be
ready to alter their rules at a moment's notice : they must take
respectful account of restrictive orders about food and cloth-
ing, but they must also avoid stirring up any hornets' nests
by allowing reports to go out that prisoners were underfed or
half frozen. The commandant who failed to preserve his
balance on this tightrope was liable to a sharp reprimand.

At Camp Morton chilly weather had set in early, its first
blasts foretelling a winter of extreme cold and heavy snows.
The shivering Confederates found no comfort now in the
open spaces that were Camp Morton's greatest asset in spring
and summer, and none in the barracks, crowded toward the end
of October by hundreds of additional prisoners from the
Chattanooga area.11 They packed the wooden sheds and
overflowed into tents.

The new arrivals looked shabby and forlorn. Tattered
remnants of the clothes in which they had begun the summer
campaign scarcely covered their thin bodies. Many had no
shoes. Wounds, exhaustion, and hunger brought them to
Indianapolis "as nearly dead as alive," defenseless against the
unaccustomed cold, and prime subjects for pneumonia, bron-
chitis, and typho-malarial fevers. In November the list of
sick climbed to 328, and deaths totaled 68. 12

Hoffman had requested Commissary General Meigs to
reserve fifteen thousand suits of inferior clothing, the same
quantity of blankets, and a larger number of shirts for the
use of prisoners during the winter, but these had to be doled
out sparingly because nobody knew how many prisoners might
be added to the twelve or fifteen thousand already in the
western camps.13 The garments furnished by the Government

"Chattanooga prisoners continued to arrive until the last week in
November. Indianapolis Sentinel, October 17, 1863, p. 3, c'. 1 ; November 2,
p. 3, c. 1 ; November 6, p. 3, c. 1 ; November 21, p. 3, c. 1 ; Indianapolis
Journal, October 19, 1863, p. 3, c. 2; October 21, p. 3, c. 1; November 11,
p. 3, c. 2; November 12, p. 3, c. 1 ; November 20, p. 3, c. 3.

"Carnahan, Camp Morton, 24, quoting J. W. Hosman, hospital steward
from 1863 to 1865. Post, p. 379.

"Official Records, 2 series, VI, 468.

COLONEL AMBROSE A. STEVENS

Commandant, Camp Morton, 1863-65

CAMP MORTON 337

were of regulation blue ; to make sure that they were not used
as a disguise by escaping Johnny Rebs, the coats were shorn of
their buttons and long skirts, and incidentally made less effec-
tive protection against the cold. The prisoners hated the
bobtailed Federal uniforms.14

At Camp Morton blankets and clothing were issued to
the most destitute cases only. Stevens had reason to think
that a small distribution was all that would be approved, for
Hoffman wrote on November 12: "For the present you will
issue no clothing of any kind except in cases of utmost neces-
sity. So long as a prisoner has clothing upon him, however
much torn, you must issue nothing to him, nor must you allow
him to receive clothing from any but members of his im-
mediate family, and only when they are in absolute want."15

The order was applied too literally to meet general approval,
however. Captain Ekin, of the quartermaster's department,
who had been in charge of erecting the two new hospital wards,
thought that the patients were insufficiently clad, and without
notifying Stevens, telegraphed Hoffman that they needed
drawers, socks, and shirts. Hoffman promptly turned on
Stevens, writing on December 17 :16 "This state of things
should not exist, nor is it proper that the information should
come to me through Captain Ekin. . . . there is no good
[reason] why at any time there should be any deficiency
of necessary articles."

Prisoners were still receiving sufficient rations in Novem-
ber, although lack of fresh vegetables induced some scurvy.
The daily issue was three quarters of a pound of bacon or a
pound of fresh beef, good wheat bread, hominy, coffee, tea,
sugar, vinegar, candles, soap, salt, pepper, potatoes, and
molasses. The food was of good quality, but each man cooked
for himself, or with a small group of friends, and in this

uIbid., VI, 503-4.

^Ibid.; Indianapolis Sentinel, November 2, 1863, p. 3, c. 2. Clothing
supplied by the prisoners' families was required to be gray in color. Official
Records, 2 series, VI, 257.

1QJbid., VI, 713. See also Hoffman's letter of February 19, 1864, to
Brigadier General H. D. Terry, commanding at Sandusky, Ohio. Ibid., VI,

338 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

haphazard preparation wasted food and fuel, and ruined his
digestive system. Hoffman undertook to reduce the losses by
installing huge kettles called "Farmers' boilers," in which
from 30 to 120 gallons of soup or stew could be prepared
at once, but as usual the reform was accomplished slowly.17

The prisoner who had credit at the commandant's office
could vary his diet with purchases from the camp sutler. He
was also allowed to receive boxes of food from friends and
relatives. On the first of December, 1863, both these
privileges were suddenly cut off by Stanton's order — no more
milk, butter, eggs, or canned fruit ; worst of all, no more
tobacco. The deprivation of tobacco caused more discontent
than the short allowance of clothing, and Hoffman recom-
mended that it be supplied from the prison fund rather than
risk disturbances. Altogether, this experiment in retaliation
was proving more awkward than anyone had anticipated.
Sutlers had supplied postage stamps, letter paper, some
underclothing, and other articles that were constantly in
demand. Were these to be cut off too?18

During November and December the Confederate Govern-
ment allowed quantities of blankets and provisions to be
delivered by the Federal and state governments to Union
prisoners in the South. It was also reported that the person-
nel of the southern prison commissariat had been changed for
the better. By the end of December Stanton was convinced
that the condition of Federal prisoners had been materially
improved, and sent word to Hoffman to make up a list of
articles which Confederate prisoners might purchase. Sale
of tobacco, pipes, writing materials, and stamps was thereafter
permitted, but for two freezing months when extra food would
have been painfully welcome to the prisoners, none was
allowed them.19

The turn of the year was stormy and fearfully cold. At
one o'clock on the afternoon of Thursday, December 31, the
temperature in Indianapolis stood at 400 — raw and chilling,
but not severe to men accustomed to exposure. During the

"Official Records, 2 series, VI, 660-61, 702, 878.
18Ibid., VI, 625, 628-29, 649-50, 701-2.
19Ibid., VI, 774, 948, 967.

CAMP MORTON 339

afternoon the mercury began a relentless descent ; at eleven
o'clock it passed the zero mark, and before sunrise on New
Year's Day had reached 20° below. The cold wave extended
far to the west and north, and south to Nashville, Tennessee.
It closed over the Mississippi, freezing it clear across, "solid,"
the newspapers said, so that for several days heavy teams were
able to cross on the ice.20

With the cold came a furious swirling snowstorm that
half buried the town, blocking streets and stopping railroad
transportation north and south. There was no comfort any-
where. New Year's Eve gatherings at the most luxurious
homes in town were afterwards remembered less for their
warmth and gaiety than because the guests barely escaped
freezing on the way home. But this discomfort could be
laughed at next day. At the other end of town, misery was
not a matter of an hour. It fastened upon Camp Morton a
grip that did not loosen for weeks.

Dismayed officials hurried about, making what provision
they could for prisoners and guards. Raids on the city wood
yards yielded a double ration of four-foot sticks for the cast-
iron stoves in the barracks, and huge camp fires were built in
the enclosure. Extra straw was distributed too, but not enough
to stop the sweep of wind and snow through cracks in the
walls. (The total quantity of straw issued in December was
24,376 pounds — with 3,372 prisoners, each man's share was
about 8 pounds.)21 Finally, division by division, the prisoners
were marched past headquarters, where seven hundred blankets
and many pairs of shoes were given out.22 Colonel Stevens
had let regulations go by the board in his efforts to secure

^Indianapolis Sentinel, January r, 1864, p. 3, c. 2, 5 ; January 4, p. 3, c. 1 ;
Indianapolis Journal, January 1, 1864, p. 3, c. 4; January 2, p. 3, c. 1 ; January
4. P- 3, c. 1 .

21Carnahan, Camp Morton, 26, 28. The issues of wood and straw for
the winter months are given as follows :

November, 1863, wood 542 cords ; straw, 16,000 pounds

December, 1863, wood, 675 cords ; straw, 24,376 pounds

January, 1864, wood, 600 cords; straw, 12,988 pounds

February, 1864, wood, 560 cords ; straw, 8,818 pounds.

""Treatment of Prisoners at Camp Morton," in Century Magazine,
XLII, 761, 762.

340 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

extra clothing. On January 2, on the principle that confession
of sin should follow as soon as possible on its commission, he
sent off to Washington duplicate requisitions and an account
of the emergency.23

In spite of these efforts at relief, suffering was intense.
On the long shelves that served as bunks, the prisoners lay
huddled together, usually in groups of three, with one man's
blanket and a little straw beneath them, and the other two
blankets, or more, if they were lucky, spread above. It was
customary to take turns occupying the middle space, but
occasionally someone was allowed to keep it permanently as a
concession to extreme youth or frailty. The men slept spoon
fashion — it made a shorter line and the blankets lay a little
thicker — and at intervals through the unhappy night, a shiver-
ing end man would order his file to "Spoon!", a command
that was answered by a mighty flop, as precisely executed as
any maneuver on the parade ground.24 None of the expedients
so painfully learned during the first weeks of winter proved
efficacious on the last night of 1863. The cold struck in to
the men's very bones.

Outside, the guards were kept at their patrols, although
there was little likelihood that any prisoners would be fool-
hardy enough to make a break on such a night. Officers took
their watches with the men. They were ordered off the
exposed sentinels' walk along the outside of the fence to make
their rounds inside the enclosure, and they were relieved every
hour, or oftener on call. The cry "Officer of the Gua-a-a-rd,
Post Number 5," usually meant that a sentry's feet or hands
were frosted. A number of them went to the hospital next
day, and some suffered lasting injuries.25 At the other camps
in town, officers called in the sentinels, trusting the bitterness
of the night to keep off marauders and camp followers.

szOfficial Records, 2 series, VI, 809.

24Wyeth, "Cold Cheer at Camp Morton," in Century Magazine, XLI,

846-47.

^Indianapolis Sentinel, January 4, 1864; Indianapolis Journal, January 2,
1864, p. 3, c. 1 ; January 4, p. 3, c. 1 ; January 5, p. 3, c. 2 ; Carnahan, Camp
Morton, 27 ; "Treatment of Prisoners at Camp Morton," in Century
Magazine, XLII, 761. ,

CAMP MORTON 341

Under the stimulation of such extraordinary weather,
rumor outran the distressing actuality: from ten to fifteen
prisoners were said to have frozen to death on New Year's
Eve ; a guard had succumbed from exposure after being tied to
a tree to keep him at his post ; soldiers had frozen to death
on stalled railroad trains.20 Such stories were dangerous, and
the Governor ordered General Carrington to investigate condi-
tions in every camp in town. His report was calculated to quiet
all outcry : there had been no deaths or serious injury among
the guards ; there was less sickness among the prisoners than
usual; and they lacked nothing indispensable to their health
and comfort. The men were described as "cheerful and
thankful," and one was quoted as saying that it would be ex-
travagant to ask for anything more than they had.27

Against this optimistic statement, we have the official
prisoners' rolls, recording 91 deaths and 244 sick at Camp
Morton in December, 1863, and 104 deaths and 251 sick in
January, 1864. These figures include only the hospital cases.
An inspection made on January 26 put the number of sick
in hospital at 240, in barracks, at 706, making a total of 946.
Nine men died in one day. Although camp officials then and
afterwards denied vehemently that any prisoner ever froze
to death at Camp Morton, the record carries an unavoidable
implication that the abnormally cold weather, together with the
shortage of warm clothing and blankets, brought on or
hastened many deaths.28

Relief from the cold was slow in coming. Top temperature
on New Year's Day was 120 below zero. The next afternoon
it crept above zero, and on Sunday it reached ij° above, but
there was snow all that night. On the fifth and sixth there
was below-zero weather again. For the rest of the month cold
blustery days predominated. February brought little relief.

26Indianapolis Sentinel, January 4, 1864, p. 3, c. 1,2; Indianapolis Journal,
January 4, p. 3, c. 1,2 ; January 7, p. 2, c. 6.

^Indianapolis Sentinel, January 7, 1864, p. 3, c. 2; Indianapolis Journal,
Tanuary 7, 1864, p. 2, c. 6.

™Post, p. 379; Wyeth, "Cold Cheer at Camp Morton," in Century
Magazine, XLI, 847 ; "Treatment of Prisoners at Camp Morton," in Century
Magazine, XLII, 761-62; Carnahan, Camp Morton, 31; Official Records, 2
series, VI, 878-79-

342 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

On the seventh a violent storm of rain, hail, and wind swept
over Indianapolis. A week later came another period of bitter
cold, followed by snow, rain, and more snow. On the fourth
of March a ''furious and universal" snowstorm raged. Spring
lagged, farmers unable to plough or plant. The last snow to
be recorded in the newspapers that season did not fall
until April 16.29

Difficult as the situation was, Colonel Stevens succeeded
in making enough improvements at the camp to draw a favor-
able comment from Inspector Clark when he visited Indian-
apolis toward the end of January.30 Slackness in the guard
had completely disappeared. Thanks to efficient policing, the
enclosure was sloughing off its unkempt air, and one of the
former eyesores, the trash- filled creek bed, had been trans-
formed into a valuable addition to the drainage system.

Camp hospitals also showed a change for the better. Their
capacity, including the two new wards and ten additional hos-
pital tents, had been increased to 292, and the patients were now
clean, comfortable, and better supplied with medical supplies
and surgical instruments. Clark directed the purchase of three
hundred outfits of clothing to be held for hospital use, and
urged the enlargement of the kitchen and the construction of
a hospital laundry to round out facilities. He was pleased
with the staff. Dr. Johnson was a skillful and energetic
officer, and responsible for many of the improvements. He
had as assistants three acting assistant surgeons and two
physicians from among the prisoners. Unfortunately, Johnson
was determined to retire from service; in spite of Clark's
attempt to dissuade him, he left Camp Morton in February
and was succeeded by Surgeon Charles J. Kipp.

At the time of Clark's visit, patients with contagious
diseases — measles was the commonest — were segregated in
special hospital tents. In February three cases of smallpox
appeared, possibly brought into camp by a small body of
prisoners who arrived on February 14. Stevens wrote for
permission to establish a tent hospital outside the enclosure

20Indianapolis Journal and Sentinel, January 1 -April 18, 1864, passim.
30Official Records, 2 series, VI, 878-80.

o

CAMP MORTON 343

for these cases, a proposal which was carried out and which
apparently prevented any spread of the disease.31

A military prison was constructed about this time. It was
a stout affair with walls, floors, ceiling, and doors of two
thicknesses of two-inch planking, laid transversely to each
other. It had four cells 15 feet square, ventilated by overhead
gratings, a main prison room 24 by 30 feet, a dungeon 16 feet
square, and an office and guardroom 12 by 24 feet. Sixty
prisoners could be lodged there ; there were thirty inmates in
January, 1864, some of them Union bounty- jumpers await-
ing court-martial. Three of these men, found guilty of re-
peated desertions, were executed on the parade ground near
Camp Morton.32

Prisoners in the general barracks were still wretchedly
clothed and quartered. Those who had no change of clothing
could scarcely be expected to wash their only garments or
bathe often in near-zero temperature, and vermin flourished
among them. The plague drove some of the more fastidious
prisoners to band together for the purchase of top bunks
where the little beasts swarmed less profusely; occasionally, for
the common good, a prisoner was forcibly bathed and shaved
by his associates.33

Strict policing would have helped to keep the barracks
free of other nuisances, and the prisoners would have been
better off for some regular occupation, but Stevens had not
roused their co-operative spirit. "Colonel Stevens is intelligent,
of good habits, and competent to fill the position he occupies,"
said one inspector, "but does not fully understand the proper
management of the prisoners."34

Lacking any camp duties, prisoners devoted themselves to
plans for escape. They tried everything, singly and in groups,
but Stevens' Veteran Reserves kept a strict watch. Two men

31Official Records, 2 series, VI, 992; Indianapolis Sentinel, February 15,
1864, p. 3, c. 1.

32Indianapolis Journal, January 28, 1864, p. 3, c. 1 ; Indianapolis Sentinel,
January 29, 1864, p. 3, c. 1 ; Terrell, Report, I, Appendix, p. 287.

330fficial Records, 2 series, VII, 71, 95-96; Wyeth, "Cold Cheer at Camp
Morton," in Century Magazine, XLI, 852.

3iOfficial Records, 2 series, VII, 71.

344 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

managed to evade the guard in November, and a member of the
Twenty-seventh Louisiana died trying. In December, the
intense cold helped to keep the record clear of escapes ; in
January three men were lucky enough to get away, and an-
other man was shot in the attempt.35

Hoffman suggested to Stevens the advisability of employ-
ing detectives to ferret out plans for escape and to uncover
communications between the prisoners and "ill-disposed persons
outside."36 This was doubtless a reference to the Sons of
Liberty, once again active in Indiana, Illinois, and Ohio.
Stevens already had some informants in the camp, but they
were not omniscient, and the prisoners were resourceful.

One of the lucky ones was a young Texan about twenty
years old who had been at Camp Morton since October, and
had had his fill of northern winter. The slow tunneling
process did not appeal to his temperament. He made a ladder
of sorts from bits of wood and odds and ends of cloth, and
concealed it in his bunk until one night when falling snow kept
the sentinels blinking and blurred the sharp lights above the
enclosure. At a moment when two sentries were farthest
from each other on their beat, the ladder was flung across the
top of the smooth high wall. A scramble, and the young
Texan was over. The ladder slid back, and under a quick drift
of snow remained undiscovered until the young man was safely
on his way to Kentucky.37

Goacin Arcemont was unlucky. He came from Louisiana,
and like the Texan, he hated the stinging northern winter. At
one thirty in the morning of January 16 he slipped out of his
barracks by a door that was not supposed to be used, and
headed for an angle of the enclosure where prisoners had got
safely away before. Challenged by the guard and ordered
back to quarters, he stopped, but he did not turn back. He
knew well enough what would follow a refusal to obey the
second challenge, but perhaps he did not care very much. The
guard repeated his order. Despairing or stubborn, Arcemont

ZBPost, p. 379; Indianapolis Sentinel, November 2, 1863, p. 3, c. 1 ; Indian-
apolis Journal, November 16, 1863, p. 3, c. I, 2; November 19, p. 3, c. 3.
^Official Records, 2 series, VI, 893.
37Wyeth, "Cold Cheer at Camp Morton," in Century Magazine, XLI, 849.

CAMP MORTON 345

stayed where he was, and after a little pause the guard fired,
inflicting a wound of which the prisoner died.38

This occurrence brought from Hoffman a demand for a
detailed account of the affair, based on an investigation made
by Stevens himself. Were the prisoners fully apprised of the
rules? What was the interval between the guard's second
order and the shot? Who, beside the guard, gave evidence
about the case ? There must be no room for charges by the
Confederacy that prisoners were shot down on trifling pre-
texts. Although Stevens was able to assure him that the guard
had observed every requirement in this particular case,
Hoffman sent an order to all camp commanders on March
17, 1864, requiring that a board of officers be summoned to
investigate every case involving the shooting of a prisoner by
a sentinel, and reiterating his warning against any ex-
cesses or cruelties.39

The prisoners meanwhile shut their eyes to the odds against
successful escape and continued to plot. Two scaled the wall
early in February. A few days later, ten men in Barracks G,
near the fence, decided to tunnel out. They boarded up the side
of a bunk, explaining to the guard that the muddy feet of men
climbing to the bunks above dirtied their blankets. Behind
this shield went the dirt dug on the first night. Next night,
the refuse from the tunnel was lodged in the topmost bunk
across the aisle. On the third night they devoted all their
time to digging and none to concealment. Between three and
four o'clock in the morning of February 11, they opened the
tunnel outside the enclosure, beneath, and concealed by, the
guards' walk. Due to this fortuitous point of exit, all of the
original plotters except one who lost heart at the last
minute emerged safely, taking with them two prisoners
from other quarters.40

38Indianapolis Sentinel, January 19, 1864, p. 3, c. 1 ; Official Records, 2
series, VI, 884-85, 911-12, 941-42.

"Ibid., VI, 91 1 -1 2, 1073.

"Colonel Stevens and two of the prisoners involved, have left accounts
of this escape. The story told by J. T. Branch in the Confederate Veteran,
VIII, 71-72 (February, 1900) is the most circumstantial. See also article
by J. J. Montgomery, in ibid., VII, 10-12 (January, 1899), and Stevens'
report, Official Records, 2 series, VI, 1043-44.

346 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Word of the escape was whispered about the camp all
day. So far as the prisoners knew, the tunnel had not been
discovered, and there was a chance that it could be used again
from Barracks G. In other parts of the camp excited prisoners
laid plans to rush the wall. That night the two groups made
a concerted try for freedom, but Stevens had been warned that
a break was likely, and extra guards were stationed at vulner-
able sections of the enclosure. One man was shot as he
emerged from the tunnel, cutting off that route of escape, and
musket fire thwarted the stampede against the wall. A few
prisoners managed to get over the fence in the uproar, but
some of them were recaptured; as a general uprising, the
venture failed dismally.41

During the rigid inspection of the barracks that followed,
another tunnel was found opening from Barracks A, and
within a month four tunnels were discovered elsewhere in the
camp.42 Guards were put under the strictest orders to prevent
further escapes — a hard assignment. All the prisoners were
restless and defiant, although the more intelligent continued
to shield their plans behind a front of good behavior. The
stupid and vicious showed less foresight, making trouble
among their comrades and insulting guards and officials
openly. To send a stone cracking against a sentinel's cartridge
box and spin him into an awkward about-face yielded a
malicious joy that these men would not forego even to help
their chances of escape. Stevens considered some of them "as
tough and depraved characters" as he had ever seen, never-
theless, guards were commanded never to answer an insult
and never to use force unless violence threatened.43 Most of
the Reserves had enough self-control to comply with the order,
but a few were irritated into acts of brutality that no amount
of provocation could justify.

Several prisoners were punished for attempted escape by

^Official Records, 2 series, VI, 946-47; Indianapolis Journal, February
15, 1864, p. 3, c. 1; February 19, p. 3, c. 2; Indianapolis Sentinel, February
15, 1864, p. 3, c. 2; February 20, p. 3, c. 1.

^Official Records, 2 series, VI, 946-47, !044-

43"Treatment of Prisoners at Camp Morton," in Century Magazine,
XLII, 768, 769.

CAMP MORTON 347

having their arms fastened behind a tree while they marked
time hour after hour ; at least once, a culprit was tied up by
the thumbs until he fainted from exhaustion. Other cruelties
are said to have taken place with even less excuse : men were
held unnecessarily long at roll call in freezing weather; a
youngster was kicked and beaten for trying to secure an extra
jacket when clothing was being issued ; there were unauthorized
shootings into the barracks — one prisoner who made a light
after taps in order to help a sick comrade was shot, had to
have his arm amputated, and died as a result. When these
charges came into controversy, their truth was testified to by
numbers of prisoners and in some cases by camp officials.
Apparently most of the blame was attributable to one or two
bullies among the noncommissioned officers; other guards and
officials were absolved of responsibility even by the prisoners.44

"The Indianapolis newspapers contain very little information about
what was going on at Camp Morton at this time, aside from one or two
articles about the abnormally cold weather and mentions of the arrival and
departure of prisoners. Outsiders were rigidly excluded from the camp.
The reports of harsh treatment were first publicized in April, 1891, when
John A. Wyeth, prisoner at Camp Morton from October, 1863 to February,
1865, and later a physician of repute and president of the American Medical
Association, wrote an article for Century Magazine (XLI, 844-52) called
"Cold Cheer at Camp Morton." It painted a dark picture, and was received
with great indignation in Indiana. In November, 1891, it was answered by
W. W. Holloway, Governor Morton's secretary during the war, in a state-
ment which Century printed (XLII, 757-70) together with a rejoinder by
Wyeth (ibid., 771-75). Each side offered much supporting testimony,
Holloway to the effect that the charges were indefensible and malicious,
and Wyeth to show that he had exaggerated nothing. Much of the material
in these articles was reviewed by James R. Carnahan, of the Indianapolis
Commandery, Loyal Legion, in a defense of Camp Morton, printed in 1892,
while numerous articles upholding Wyeth's assertions appeared in the
Confederate Veteran. In 1914 Dr. W'yeth retold his story as a chapter in a
volume called With Sabre and Scalpel. A comparison of this chapter with
his first article shows some modifications, based on the replies of Holloway
and Carnahan, and on the eight volumes of Official Records dealing with
prisoners of war (these volumes began to appear in 1894) but in the essentials
he sticks to his original story. At those points where the Official Records
cover the matters of which he speaks — for example, the condition of barracks,
hospitals, and clothing issues — they tend to substantiate his statements. For
material on the charges cited in the text, see Wyeth, "Cold Cheer at Camp
Morton," in Century Magazine, XLI, 849, 850-51 ; "Treatment of Prisoners
at Camp Morton," in Century Magazine, XLII, 768, 772-74.

348 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Harsh treatment may have cowed some of the weaker
spirits, but it was not, generally, effective in preventing escapes.
Other measures worked far better. Stevens ordered twenty
feet taken off the end of the barracks nearest the fence, and
started the prisoners digging a trench within the walls so wide
and deep that tunneling below it would be practically impos-
sible, The Confederates regarded this occupation with extreme
disfavor, as might be expected, but the work went on, and
when the job was finished, a stout board enclosure was erected
inside the old wall as a further barrier against unauthorized
departures.45

In late February, 1864, a squabble between Hoffman and
Major General Benjamin F. Butler, who had been made a
special agent of exchange, did the prisoners a good turn. Butler
found his attempts to supply comforts to Union prisoners
coldly received by the Confederates because Hoffman was
refusing to allow the delivery of boxes of provisions to
southern prisoners. Exasperated by this inept management,
Butler wrote to Colonel Hoffman in the tone of a sarcastic
headmaster addressing a clumsy schoolboy. Hoffman's com-
ment that the delivery of packages caused a great deal of
trouble to the prison commandants especially provoked him,
since it was obvious that a little more effort on the part of
these gentlemen would work as much to the advantage of
Union as of Confederate prisoners.46

"I desire to have and shall have the delivery of packages
made in accordance with the views herein contained/' an-
nounced Butler, * "unless specifically directed to the contrary
by the Secretary of War." Hoffman forwarded the letter to
Stanton, and with it requests from the commandant at Camp
Chase for permission to extend the list of articles which might
be sold to prisoners of war. It was decided that the exchange
of provisions be allowed on a reciprocity basis, and that a
sutler be appointed in each camp.47

^Official Records, 2 series, VI, 946-47, 1044; VII, 95; Indianapolis
Journal, March 21, 1864, p. 3, c. 1 ; March 28, p. 3, c. 2 ; Indianapolis Sentinel,
June 22, 1864, p. 3, c. 1.

"Official Records, 2 series, VI, 954-55, 973-75 ', VIII, 343-

"Ibid., VI, 983-85.

CAMP MORTON 349

Boxes "containing nothing hurtful or contraband" were
thereafter delivered at the camps. Military equipment and
intoxicating liquors were among the contraband articles, and
clothing was not allowed in excess of "immediate" require-
ments. This last stricture was narrowly construed. For
instance, one destitute prisoner who appealed to his family for
a new outfit got only a shirt and pantaloons, a pair of socks,
and a pair of shoes out of a package which contained a coat,
hat, another shirt, and extra socks in addition.48

Prisoners did their best to get around the antiliquor rule.
Wines and whiskies kept in the hospital storeroom had an
irresistible attraction for an orderly named Whitehead. He
discovered in the storeroom ceiling a hole intended to accom-
modate a stovepipe, and by means of a lasso was able to fish
out a bottle of liquor every now and then. For a while
occasional breakages in the locked room were attributed to
mice and rats, as he had hoped, but a suspicious surgeon
eventually set a watch on the place, and Whitehead found
himself repining the loss of his "bitters" in the guardhouse.49

The new regulations for sutlers, issued on March 3, were
sensible and generous. No sales were to be made before eight
o'clock or after half an hour before sundown, when they would
obviously interfere with camp routine. The stock was to be
restricted to certain articles — a fairly comprehensive list which
would have allowed the prisoner (always providing that he
had funds) to enlarge his supply of shoes, socks, and under-
clothes, and supplement his rations with fruit, vegetables, and
other nourishing foods.50

It does not appear that Stevens applied the rules strictly.
The first report mentioning the sutler at Camp Morton states
that he was selling pies, cakes, soda water, and candies, but
whether these articles were in addition to those on Hoffman's
list or a poor substitute for them, is not clear. A new circular
covering the treatment of prisoners of war, issued on April

48Ibid., VI, 1036; VII, 75; "Treatment of Prisoners at Camp Morton,"
in Century Magazine, XLII, 774.

49Indianapolis Sentinel, November 2, 1863, p. 3, c. 2.
^Official Records, 2 series, VI, 1014, 1036.

350 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

20, 1864, required that sutlers be obliged to furnish the pre-
scribed articles at reasonable prices. The sutler was to pay a
small tax, which was to become a part of the prisoners' fund.51

The circular of April 20 also carried a new ruling about
rations. Whereas until this time the amount of the regular
army rations that might be withheld from the prisoners and
commuted into a prisoners1 fund had been left to the judgment
of the camp commandants, this order made a flat schedule for
all prison depots.52 Whether the new allowance was more or
less than the issue then in effect at Camp Morton does not
appear ; it is probable that it was less, for inspectors had never
criticised the quantity of food furnished there, although they
had found plenty of fault with the shortage of vegetables and
the poor cooking arrangements.

At least one camp commander considered the new ration
too small, but the commander of big Camp Douglas wrote to
Hoffman that he thought it could be reduced still further. He
recommended doing away with hominy, tea, and candles, on
the grounds that the hominy was almost entirely wasted, tea
was unnecessary, and the candles had been used chiefly "in
tunneling or in studying up some other means of escape."5

Hoffman welcomed the suggestion. Since dispatching the
circular of April 20, he had made a visit to Annapolis to
oversee the reception of some paroled Union soldiers brought
North by truce boat. He found most of the officers in good
health and happy, but the condition of the enlisted men return-
ing from Belle Isle Prison horrified him, and caused him to
discredit the Confederate claim that prisoners were receiving
army rations. Reports from Andersonville, established in
December, 1863, were also distilling bitterness. On May 3,
1864, Hoffman wrote to Stanton advocating retaliation on
the officers in northern prisons, and on the nineteenth he wrote
again, proposing a general reduction in prison rations. His
proposal was approved by Stanton, Halleck, the Acting Surgeon
General, and the Commissary General of Subsistence, and on

^Official Records, 2 series, VII, 71, 74.

"Ibid., VI, 1081 ; post, p. 381.

530fficial Records, 2 series, VII, 134, 142-43-

CAMP MORTON 351

June i was incorporated in a circular and transmitted to
prison commanders.54

Candles and molasses had disappeared from the allowance
completely; bread was reduced from 18 to 16 ounces per day,
potatoes from 30 pounds to 15 pounds per hundred men, and
the salt portion was lessened. Sugar and coffee or tea were
removed from the ration of all but the sick and wounded: the
latter were allowed small amounts every other day.55 From the
dietary angle, the worst feature of the measure was the reduc-
tion of potatoes and salt ; from the prisoners' point of view, the
regulation best exemplifying Yankee hatefulness was the
withdrawal of the daily cup of coffee.

Stevens received the order with misgivings. For one
thing, the temper of the camp had been increasingly inflamed
ever since the shooting of two prisoners a few weeks before.
Several prisoners had been detailed to help with the disposal
of garbage. While they were marching along behind the
wagon, followed by an excitable and inexperienced guard, two
of them stepped out of line and ran up beside the wagon. Ac-
cording to the guard's story, he ordered them to fall back, and
at the same time brought his musket to "Charge bayonets,"
cocking it with his thumb as he brought it down. In his
excitement the musket was discharged, and the two men in the
path of the bullet were fatally wounded. The guard was
arrested, tried for murder, and acquitted, but many of the
prisoners were convinced that the shooting had been intentional,
and continued to look upon the guard as nothing better
than an assassin.56

Investigations made by General Carrington were also
disturbing. Stevens was convinced that the Sons of Liberty
now had contacts within the camp, and that designs were being
laid to promote an uprising. To add to his uneasiness, the

'"'Official Records, 2 series, VII, 110-11, 150-51, 183-84. A somewhat
larger ration was established on June 13 for prisoners employed on public
works. Ibid., VII, 366-67.

aPost, p. 381.

5GWyeth, "Cold Cheer at Camp Morton," in Century Magazine, XLI,
849-50: Carnahan, Camp Morton, 40-41; "Treatment of Prisoners at Camp
Morton," in Century Magazine, XLII, 773, 774.

352 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

prisoners' strength had been increased by six hundred men
sent North in May; more were expected/'7 To reduce rations
was to invite an explosion. Additional safeguards were
demanded, and General Carrington procured a howitzer
battery from St. Louis, which was placed to protect the angles
of the fence.58

Introduction of the short ration met the belligerent recep-
tion that Stevens expected. "I have just returned from Camp
Morton, where there are indications of attempted revolt of the
prisoners," wrote Carrington on June 4/"9 ''Last night stones
had been collected in large numbers and tunnels had been
pushed forward to considerable progress. They have destroyed
some of their utensils and talk defiantly. A portion of the
excitement grew out of reduction of rations. To-day the issue
of coffee ceases.

"The officers and guard are on the alert and will be
doubled to-night. The force is inadequate for the duty
devolved upon them, and lumber is greatly needed for neces-
sary repairs. I have ordered an inspection of the prison."

The threatening muzzles of the howitzer battery and the
doubled guard held the prisoners in check temporarily, and
Stevens turned his attention to providing accommodations for
extra prisoners.

57Indianapolis Sentinel, May 23, 1864, p. 3, c. 1 ; May 27, p. 3, c. 1 ; Indian-
apolis Journal, May 25, 1864, p. 3, c. 1.

58Terrell, Report, I, Appendix, 273 ; Official Records, 2 series, VII, 193.
"Ibid.

VII. THE LAST YEAR, 1864-65

Camp Morton housed 4,999 prisoners in July, 1864, a fifty
per cent increase since the first of May : 609 had arrived
late in that month, 1,350 in June, and 568 in July.1 Renova-
tions and improvements at the camp had not been made on a
scale to accommodate half the newcomers. By the end of July
the seven barracks housed from 436 to 484 inmates each, 554
men occupied the old cattle shed, and a fourth of the men were
still sweltering in tents set in cramped rows between the
buildings. Fortunately kitchens had at last been erected, in
each of which cooking was done for from three to four
hundred prisoners; this was a great reform, but its good effects
were reduced by the omission of succulent vegetables from the
diet. Beef cooked in quantity might taste better and go
further, but it did not prevent scurvy.2

The advent of July was dreaded by the camp physicians.
The hot days brought deadly exhalations from the earth,
trampled by thousands of men and impregnated with filth,
while the sink, situated near the center of the camp, spread
its noxious gases broadcast. July was the month too when
malaria began to seize its victims. Even in 1863, when the
number of prisoners was below a thousand, the death rate
during that month had been high. In 1864, the camp was
swarming, and matters were made still worse by heat as blister-
ing as the winter cold had been severe. Three cases of sun-
stroke in downtown Indianapolis were reported by the Sentinel
of June 21. Later issues commented in a depressed fashion on
the succession of burning days, and by July 23 wells and
cisterns had begun to go dry.3

The hospitals were soon full. One building had been
remodeled to contain the office and dispensary, storerooms,
and a kitchen and messroom, while the wards had become such

xPost, p. 379-

^Official Records, 2 series, VII, 512-13, 554-

'Ibid.

(353)

354 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

"models of neatness" that a sojourn there was regarded as
the best thing the camp had to offer.4 The patients were better
clothed and better fed than the men outside, and behind
Surgeon Kipp's professional ability they perceived a heart-
warming personal interest. Kipp had efficient assistants,
too.5 His worst foes were the intolerably crowded quarters
and a general debility which complicated every case of illness.
Following a week when twenty-four of his patients died, he
was requested to make a statement of the causes to Surgeon
Charles J. Tripler, Medical Director of the Northern Depart-
ment. His reply showed plainly that no improvement could
be expected as long as the prisoners remained in cramped
quarters and were denied antiscorbutics.6

With Tripler's strong endorsement, the statement eventually
reached Hoffman's hands. It was reinforced almost immedi-
ately by a report from Medical Inspector Alexander, who
visited Camp Morton on August 5 and 6.7 He said bluntly
that the number of sick — 327 in hospital and 256 in barracks —
was out of proportion to the number of prisoners, and recom-
mended (1) enlargement of the camp; (2) building of eight
hospital wards in the added area; (3) conversion of existing
hospital wards into quarters; (4) reconstruction of the cattle
shed into a barracks by the addition of another half;

(5) a free supply of vegetables for the next two months;

(6) improved police.

All this he thought could be done at less than the cost of
replacing 198 worn-out tents still in use but unfit for winter
occupancy. He himself had instituted measures to improve
the sinks, and had ordered onions supplied from the prison
fund, which amounted to $36,215.52 at the end of July.

Hoffman was impressed into instituting the reforms that
could be handled without much expense. Antiscorbutics were
issued regularly thereafter — half a pound of potatoes or six

Official Records, 2 series, VII, 94-

5Ibid., VII, 556. Five acting assistant surgeons of the U. S. Army were
now on duty at Camp Morton. They were R. N. Todd, W. P. Parr, I. N
Craig, W. S. Thompson, and S. C. Dove.

6Ibid., VII, 512-13, 554-56.

"Ibid., VII, 554-56.

CAMP MORTON 355

ounces of onions per man. Stevens was ordered to take into
the enclosure about ten acres at the northeast corner, and to
report weekly on the condition of the camp.8 He appointed
Lieutenant J. W. Davidson, of the Veteran Reserve Corps,
to act as camp inspector and see that policing was regular and
thorough.

After examining the noisome barracks, Davidson character-
ized the prisoners as "the filthiest set of men in the world."
They obstructed his every move, but they could not balk this
stubborn officer. As soon as the barracks were empty in the
morning, a detail of prisoners was assigned to give them a
sweeping. Bedding was then aired and rolled neatly at the
head of each bunk, in regular army camp fashion. The men
were inspected, too, and anyone who came dirty to the morning
line-up was taken from the ranks and washed.9

Davidson had scarcely had time to admire the results when
Hoffman, in a fit of economy, threatened to reduce the soap
ration. Davidson saw his charges slipping back into their
former grimy state, and protested with an earnestness that
gave no thought to the niceties of grammar : "The rations of
soap, I have found, is not more than is required, owing to the
water that has to be used for washing being of such a nature
as to require a large quantity to enable them to keep themselves
and their clothing clean."10

Other reforms recommended by Inspector Alexander
bogged down because Hoffman and Stevens got at cross pur-
poses over requisitions and authorizations. As an illustration
of the disastrous results produced in the prison camps by false
economy and red tape, the struggle to improve accommodations
for the winter of 1864-65 will be followed in some detail.

The whole plan to provide barrack room for the men in

^Official Records, 2 series, VII, 585, 599-

°Ibid., VII, 693, 771, 843: Indianapolis Journal, October 25, 1864, p. r,
c. 4-5. Davidson has been accused of tyrannical and cruel behavior toward
the prisoners (Confederate Veteran, XV, 223-26. May, 1907), and his reports
sometimes betray extreme exasperation at their unhelpfulness. On the other
hand, his efforts to secure better quarters for them were unremitting.

^Official Records, 2 series, VII, 599, 694. Stevens reported that SA95lA
pounds of soap, and 1,030^ gallons of vinegar were required in August.
Ibid., VII, 824.

356 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

tents and reduce the crowding in the regular quarters hinged
on the building of enough new hospital wards to accommodate
all the sick, and release the old wards for conversion into
barracks. Perhaps Stevens did not emphasize this point suf-
ficiently when he forwarded the recommendations of his sub-
ordinates. Kipp had added several details to the suggestions
already made. He wanted windows in the barracks, bunks
limited to two tiers instead of three, an "ablution room" at-
tached to each building, and a messroom to each kitchen.11 It
was impossible to keep the barracks clean in winter when the
men had to eat indoors. Davidson begged for the construction
of floors in the barracks, partly as a sanitary measure, and
partly to make tunneling more difficult. He was distressed
about the men in leaky tents, and harped on the necessity of
providing better quarters for them before cold weather.12
Stevens unfortunately neglected to provide estimates of costs,
a fatal omission in dealing with Hoffman.

As the days went by without word from Washington,
Stevens revised his plans and began makeshift repairs with
materials on hand. By remodeling an extension of the cattle
shed along the north wall, brought inside the enclosure by the
enlargement of the grounds, it was possible to take 585 men
out of tents. The most dilapidated tents were then discarded
and the rest moved to fresh ground.13 Beyond improvements
of this sort Stevens was unwilling to go without authoriza-
tion from Washington.

When Hoffman finally wrote to Stevens on September 14,
he did not mention the barracks at all, and he criticized the
proposals for the hospital as too elaborate. Instead of authoriz-
ing the construction of the six or eight wards needed, he ordered
the building of two. Specifications were to be as follows:14

Dimensions, 25 feet by no, with 9 1/2 feet elevation from
the floor ; clothes room, bathing room, and closet in each ward ;
eight windows in a side at intervals of 1 1 feet, allowing three
beds between; one row of beds to run lengthwise, providing

"Official Records, 2 series, VII, 663-64.

12Ibid., VII, 693-94, 771, 812, 843, 918.

nIbid.

"Ibid., VII, 823.

CAMP MORTON 357

accommodations for fifty men to a ward. A building 20 by 60
feet was authorized for the kitchen and messroom, and another,
24 by 75 feet, to contain a room for the surgeon, an office,
dispensary, storeroom, and a room for attendants. The
buildings were to be put up without framing, the posts set in
the ground and the joists spiked to them. Felt roofing was
recommended as warmer than shingles, and floors were to be
elevated one foot above the ground. Stevens was asked to
report on the costs as soon as the wards were completed.

Materials had to be assembled before work could begin,
and construction was further delayed by heavy rains. Hoff-
man, waiting to hear how the hospital wards were progressing,
got nothing but Davidson's weekly pleas for better barracks.
Irritated and impatient, he wrote to Stevens on October 3
scoring these "vague suggestions" and "recommendations
without details."15

Stevens replied patiently with a statement of what he had
done and what he hoped to do. By October 20 the hospital
wards were finished, and reporting this fact, Stevens brought
up once again the need for at least four more.16 Expense was
not prohibitive, for the first two cost but $915.46, and the
prison fund was climbing steadily.17 Hoffman received the
suggestion as though it were brand new. "If the tents now
in use can possibly be made to serve . . . this winter, no
further buildings will be erected; but if the tents are wholly
unfit for further use, you are authorized to erect additional
hospital wards and convert the present hospital into barracks,
as you recommend. Report what you think proper to do in this
matter."18 If Stevens read this communication with anger
and frustration, who can blame him? For weeks he had been
reporting the measures that he considered necessary, and his
reports had been backed up by recommendations of the camp
inspector, the camp surgeon, and the district medical inspector.

"Ibid., VII, 919.

lsIbid., VII, 927-28, 1034.

"Ibid., VII, 1 166. In December, 1864, the prison fund amounted to
about $75, 000. Alvin P. Hovey to The Adjutant General, December 2, 1864.
Photostat, Indiana Division, Indiana State Library.

"Official Records, 2 series, VII, 1069-70.

358 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Shortly after this, on November n, Hoffman was made
Commissary General of Prisoners West of the Mississippi, a
position which he held until February i, 1865. For that period
he was replaced at Washington by Brigadier General Henry W.
Wessells. Immediately, Stevens' communications began to
receive consideration, but so much time had been wasted
already in fruitless correspondence that the camp was doomed
to face another winter ill prepared.

Construction of additional hospital wards, approved by
Wessells' office on November 21, was retarded by snow and
ice ; before they were completed it was plain that they would
not suffice (on December 29, Surgeon Kipp had room for 240
patients and a daily sick report of 400, many of the patients
coming from the group of prisoners who were still living in
tents). Kipp begged for three more wards and toward the
end of January, 1865, received permission to build them
with prison labor.19

What the months of haggling over hospitals and winter
quarters cost is told by the prisoners' death rolls : September,

1864, 33 ; October, 21 ; November, 18 ; December, 53 ; January,

1865, 117; February, 133.20

Life at Camp Morton from the summer of 1864 to the
spring of 1865 followed the pattern of the preceding year in
other aspects. On August 10, 1864, Hoffman once more
prohibited sutlers from selling food to prisoners of war, and
so restricted the delivery of boxes from their families as
virtually to cut off that source of supplies. Sutlers still
furnished tobacco, stamps, and odds and ends of toilet and
sewing articles, and some of them did a little smuggling on
the side. The Camp Morton sutler, Dwight Roberts, was
charged with selling small gingerbread cakes worth about two
cents each to agents among the prisoners at the rate of eleven
cakes for a dollar; the agents then tacked on a big profit for
themselves, and the hungry consumer had to pay fifteen or
twenty-five cents for his illicit bite of gingerbread. Another
sharp practice was to force the prisoners to buy at least thirty

^Official Records, 2 series, VII, 1102-3, 1117, 1128, H54-55, 1166, 1202,
1211, 1242, 1294; VIII, 134, 144.
"Post, p. 379-

CAMP MORTOX

359

iniiMiiiuiiim

Century Magazine, XLII, 764.

Camp Morton, 1865 (Compiled from sketches by several persons who
were on duty in the camp). 1. Headquarters. 2. Old hospital. 3. Hospital
tents. 4. Sutler. 5. Hospitals — built in 1863. 6. New hospitals — built in
1864. 7. Barracks. 9. Gates. 10. Quartermaster. 11. Commissary.
12. Bakery. 13. Baseball grounds. 15. Bridges. 16. Pumps. 17. Sheds,
officers' horses. 19. Dining room. 20. Kitchen. 21. Dining room. 22. Con-
sulting room. 2^. Reception room. 24. Engineer. 25. Prescription, supplies.
Guard line.

cents worth of provisions at a time or forfeit the change due
from a sutler's check worth a dollar.21 As will appear later,
the prisoners found a way of avenging themselves.

Food gradually became the center of men's thoughts, the
subject of most of their conversations, and the basis of a
strange camp commerce. Chief commodities in camp trading
operations were bread (''duffers"), crackers ("hardtack"),
beef bones, and bone butter, and the unit of currency was
a "chaw" of tobacco, cut to a standard size of an inch square
and a quarter inch thick. Bone butter rated as the top luxury
on the prison bill of fare. If a man drew a beef joint on his

nOfficial Records, 2 series, VII, 573-74; letter of James A. Edwards to
"the Proper Officer," Washington, D. C, February 27, 1865, photostat,
Archives Division, Indiana State Library, from War Department, Letters
Received, Secretary of War.

360 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

ration he had the makings of this delicacy and was happy. The
meat was scraped off and cooked. The bone was then split
into very small pieces and boiled until all the fat was extracted
and the water evaporated. After the residue had been filtered
through a cloth and allowed to harden, the bone butter was
ready — and worth a big price in camp currency.

In fair weather the dealers had a regular market place ; on
rainy days they made their rounds through the barracks. Al-
most everybody joined in the daily bargaining. It was an
occupation that relieved the terrible ennui of the long days and
provided a momentary defense against nostalgia.22

Some men found their entertainment in gambling. Since
rations were the usual stake the game was exciting, but the
losers had to choose between starving like gentlemen or ob-
taining food by irregular means. Rat eating was not uncom-
mon during the period of short rations : there was no stigma
attached to the practice. When the sutler's dog went the way
of the rats, however, some of the prisoners invited to the
vengeful feast could not bring themselves to share it. A
few men were driven to the extremity of filching scraps from
the hospital garbage, but their comrades soon formed a com-
mittee to prevent this degrading practice. They also held court
on the rascals who stole from their comrades.23

Early in August, 1864, the prisoners' clothing was described
as bad and deficient. There were some reserves in the quarter-
master's department, but not enough to last through the winter.
Late in the month, Lieutenant Davidson asked for 530 woolen
blankets, 825 pairs of trousers, 1,250 pairs of shoes, 850 shirts,
and 350 coats, and took the trouble to point out that most of
the 4,800 prisoners at Camp Morton were too poor to secure
outfits from home. The supplies arrived slowly — there was
still a shortage of shoes on October 18 — and later more shirts
and blankets had to be requisitioned. In December, Davidson

"Wyeth, "Cold Cheer at Camp Morton," in Century Magazine, XLI,
851-52.

2iIbid., 848, 851 ; "Plain Living at Johnson's Island," in Century Mag-
azine, XLI, 715 ; "Treatment of Prisoners at Camp Morton," in Century
Magazine, XLII, 765, 774, 775 ; Official Records, 2 series, VIII, 347, 348.

CAMP MORTON 361

asked that straw be furnished for bedding as the prisoners
did not have enough blankets.24

In the meantime a plan was being worked out under which
the Federal Government was to furnish Union men in southern
prisons with food, clothing and blankets, shelter and fuel, and
hospital stores, while the Confederacy supplied its men in the
North. To secure funds, the South was allowed to ship cotton
for sale in New York.25 Brigadier General William N. R.
Beall, a prisoner at Fort Warren, was paroled on December 6
to take charge of the sale, make the necessary purchases, and
manage the distribution. The cotton came late (January 24,
1865) and in such bad condition that it had to be rebaled. It
was sold on February 8, and by the tenth Beall had made his
purchases. To the dismay of General Halleck, not a cent was
spent for provisions : every penny went for tobacco and for
shoes, gray blankets, and clothing that was "in every respect
the Confederate uniform (save the buttons)." Since ex-
changes were once more under way, this looked like an attempt
to outfit the men for the field, and the North refused to extend
its agreement to cover further sales of cotton.26

General Beall's purchases were distributed in February.
Prisoners at Camp Morton received as their share 12 packages
of tobacco, 1,500 blankets, 1,580 coats and jackets, 1,585 pairs
of trousers, 1,730 shirts, 1,600 drawers, 1,800 pairs of socks,
and 800 pairs of shoes.27 This was an impressive issue in
comparison with the quantities asked for by Lieutenant David-
son, and leaves the unhappy conviction that coats and blankets
at the camp were far too few from November to February.

During the summer and autumn of 1864 liberation of
prisoners again became an important objective of forlorn-hope
Confederates and hotheaded leaders of the Sons of Liberty in
the North. Their extravagant scheme contemplated the over-

2iOfficial Records, 2 series, VII, 694, 785, 843, 927, 966, 1007-8, 1147,
1 166, 121 1.

^Ibid., VII, 1070-73, 1 107-8. It was part of the agreement that no article
furnished by either Government should be "upon any pretense or for any
cause whatever, diverted from the use" for which it was dedicated.

™Ibid., VII, 1117-18, 1131, 1148-49, 1199-1200; VIII, 124, 227, 241-42.

"Ibid., VIII, 318, 750.

362 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

throw of the state governments of Missouri, Illinois, Indiana,
and Ohio, and the occupation of Kentucky. Governor Morton
was to be assassinated. The arsenals were to be seized and
the prisoners freed and armed to join Confederate forces mov-
ing in from Missouri and Kentucky.

"Visionary and desperate as this scheme may appear,"
said one of Morgan's ablest officers later, "it was in reality
very nearly the last hope the South had of prolonging the war.
She had exhausted every other means of recruiting her fear-
fully depleted armies. Much of her territory had been over-
run and no longer furnished either men or supplies to the
Confederate cause. Enlistment in the territory still under
Confederate control had almost ceased; indeed, the material
for it had scarcely any longer existence. The conscription, no
matter how rigorously enforced, brought no acquisition to the
ranks, simply because it could not find men capable of serving.
Nowhere, except among the great army of her veterans cooped
up in Northern prisons, could the South find the men who,
with their remaining comrades yet in the field and standing
desperately at bay, might still fight her battles and prolong
the struggle."28

So much for the position of the South. But the plan went
far beyond anything dreamed of by most northern members of
the order. Shocked and alienated by its treasonable aspects,
many withdrew in Indiana. Others succeeded in postponing
action in the state, and the plan for a rising in August col-
lapsed with the seizure of a shipment of arms — labeled Sunday
school books — at the office of H. H. Dodd, Grand Commander
for Indiana, and his subsequent arrest.29 Some of his agents
were sent to the military prison at Camp Morton.

General Carrington reported that papers found in Dodd's
office included a list of four hundred prisoners of war who
were members of the Sons of Liberty, and that he had learned
from some of the prisoners that two thousand of their number

28General Basil W. Duke, in Introduction to John B. Castleman's Active
Service (Louisville, Kentucky, 1917).

^Terrell, Report, I, 299 f f . ; Indianapolis Journal, August 22, 1864, p. 2,
c. 1-5; August 23, p. 1, c. 5-8, p. 2, c. 1-2; Official Records, VII, 801-3,
930-53, 1089.

CAMP MORTON 363

had organized battalions and chosen leaders in preparation for
an outbreak. Dodd denied that any prisoners were members
of the order, but he was quoted at his trial in September as
having said that with 150 men he could seize the artillery at
Camp Morton and overpower the guards, and there was ample
evidence that he expected the prisoners to co-operate in
the general uprising.30

Although these plans came to nothing, they kept the offi-
cials at Camp Morton uneasy and doubly watchful. Additional
guards were brought in, the Sixtieth Massachusetts Volunteer
Infantry, and the Thirty-seventh Iowa Volunteers both assist-
ing the Fifth and Seventeenth Regiments of Veteran Reserves.
The prisoners immediately recognized inexperienced guards
and tried to make capital of the situation. On August 17
eight of them who had been sent outside the camp on fatigue
duty overpowered their guard. Six escaped, one was recap-
tured, and one came back to camp of his own accord. A month
later a prisoner tried to get away from a similar fatigue party
and was killed.31 Informants within the camp gave warning
meanwhile that some of the prisoners were perfecting plans
for an attack on the enclosure, and were determined to fight
their way to the arsenals no matter what the cost of life.32

Dozens of tunnels were discovered ; some progressed for
weeks before betrayal or mischance called them to the guards'
attention. One of these was begun two hundred feet from the
prison wall. A ten-foot shaft was sunk, and two feet from the
bottom of the shaft a cross trench was run parallel to the
surface until it dipped underneath the ditch that Stevens had
hoped would make tunneling impracticable.

^Carrington to Lieutenant Colonel S. H. Lathrop, August 24, 1864,
photostat in Indiana Division, Indiana State Library, from War Department,
Northern Department Letter Books, Vol. 69, pp. 88-89 ; Indianapolis Sentinel,
September 5, 1864, p. 2, c. 4; September 28, p. 2, c. 4; October 26, p. 3, c. 2 ;
Official Records, 2 series, VII, 947-48.

31Indianapolis Sentinel, August 11, 1864, p. 3, c. 1 ; August 18, p. 3, c. 1 ;
August 19, p. 3, c. 1 ; August 24, p. 3, c. 1 ; September 19, p. 3, c. 1 ; Indian-
apolis Journal, August 19, 1864, p. 3, c. 1 ; Official Records, 2 series, VII,
911-12.

32Carrington to Lieutenant Colonel S. H. Lathrop, August 23, 1864,
photostat in Indiana Division, Indiana State Library, from War Department,
Northern Department, Letter Books, Vol. 69, p. 87.

364 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Elaborate precautions were taken to keep the work secret.
Some of the plotters were always at hand to blanket the shaft
when a patrol appeared, and help disguise the opening by
starting a card game on the covering. One man at a time
worked inside the tunnel, digging with a case knife, and push-
ing the earth into a bag which was tied at the middle of a
long cord and could be hauled back and forth in response to
a signal from either end.

Before the prisoners went to their barracks at sundown the
fresh earth was carefully disposed of. Each man tucked his
trousers into his socks, filled them with "as much loose earth
as he could waddle with," and made for the "Potomac."
Reaching the middle of the plank bridge across the little
stream, he gave his trousers a sudden pull, disengaging them
from his stockings and allowing the dirt to slide into the
stream, where the rapid current soon carried off all evidence
of his burrowing.

On a September morning the plotters hugged the knowledge
that the tunnel was ready to cut through ; as the day wore on,
fifteen of them realized with sick foreboding that the sixteenth
man of the party had disappeared. A surreptitious search dis-
covered their Judas — safe behind the guardlines at head-
quarters, where he remained until the end of the war.33

On the night of September 27 a more spectacular attempt
at escape doubled the tension in the camp. Some time before,
the fifteen or twenty prisoners involved had spliced together
half a dozen ladders out of tent poles and the short ladders
from their bunks ; they had been waiting since for just such
a night of rain and pitch darkness as closed over the camp on
the twenty-seventh. It was in their favor, too, that part of
the troops on guard that night were armed only with musket
and bayonet, and could fire only once without reloading.

Letting fly a barrage of rocks and stones to draw the
sentries' fire, the prisoners rushed the wall. "By God, I'm
all right," shouted one as he reached the top, and was shot as
he spoke. Another was fatally wounded. A few got over the
fence and away; though little trails of blood indicated that

33Wyeth, "Cold Cheer at Camp Morton," in Century Magazine, XLI, 850.

CAMP MORTON 365

some of them had suffered gunshot or bayonet wounds, none
of them were recaptured, and it was supposed that they had
found shelter with Confederate sympathizers.34

There were brought to Camp Morton on October 2 two of
the young Confederate officers who had been trying to prod
northern Sons of Liberty into aiding their plans. One was
Lieutenant William E. Munford; the other was Captain
John Breckenridge Castleman, of Louisville, Kentucky, who
had been working with Captain Thomas H. Hines, already
well known for his dashing foray into Indiana the preceding
summer and his spectacular escape with General Morgan from
the Ohio State Penitentiary at Columbus. Because they were
traveling in civilian clothes and under assumed names when
arrested, they were charged with spying, and were placed in
close confinement in the Camp Morton prison.

Within a few days Castleman had induced a guard to bring
him a saw, and had cut an opening in the floor of his cell
large enough to allow him to slip out. A short inspection
disclosed a close-set ring of sentinels around the prison and
beyond them the high wall surrounding the enclosure. There
was nothing to do but climb back into Cell 3 and replace
the floorboards.

Castleman was treated with consideration. The officer in
charge of the prison, Colonel A. J. Warner, of the Seventeenth
Regiment Veteran Reserves, visited him frequently, and per-
mitted him to have a private interview with his mother and to
receive the Bible which she brought. The Bible had been sup-
plied by Captain Hines and contained $3,000 in one side of
the binding and a fine saw in the other, but Castleman was
never able to engineer an escape. His Unionist brother-in-law,
Judge Samuel Breckenridge, of St. Louis, saw President
Lincoln secretly on his behalf in November, and received from
him a note to be used only in case of emergency.

" Whenever John B. Castleman shall be tried, if convicted
and sentenced, suspend execution until further order from
me, and send me the record.

A. Lincoln"

^Official Records, 2 series, VII, 915-16.

366 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Castleman knew nothing of this, and during the next few
months must have spent many hours contemplating the
probable consequences if he were tried as a spy.35

Doubtless the Camp Morton grapevine carried through the
enclosure the story of Castleman's errand in the North; the
prisoners may have had secret knowledge, too, that Hines was
still working to release the prisoners at Camp Douglas,
knowledge that gave them courage for the last and most suc-
cessful prison break of the season. On the night of November
14, just as the bugle was calling prisoners to their barracks,
and before the night patrol had reached the prison yard, a mob
of fifty or sixty men rushed toward the fence. Stones and
bottles filled with water hurtled through the air at the guards,
taking them so completely by surprise that only a few shots
were fired. The prisoners bridged the ditch with an overturned
shed and went over the fence like cats. Tumbling down the
bank, they fled into the woods before reinforcements reached
the disorganized guards. An all-night search party corralled
a part of them, but thirty-one concealed themselves successfully
and were seen no more at Camp Morton.36

There was wrath at the camp. Stevens and other officials
had been asking for weeks for an efficient guard regiment to
support the Fifth Veteran Reserves. The break justified their
requests, but not in a manner pleasing to officialdom. It did
result, however, in the replacement of the Sixtieth Massachu-
setts Volunteer Infantry by the Forty-third Indiana, and from
that time on, but four men escaped from Camp Morton.37

One group of prisoners had been trying for many months
to secure their release by amicable means. They were mostly
Louisianans who had been captured in the Vicksburg campaign

35Castleman, Active Service, 147-48, 172-79; Official Records, 2 series,
VIII, 704-5.

36Wyeth, "Cold Cheer at Camp Morton," in Century Magazine, XLI,
849; "Treatment of Prisoners at Camp Morton," in Century Magazine, XLII,
768; Alvin P. Hovey to Captain C. H. Potter, November 15, 1864, photostat,
Indiana Division, Indiana State Library, from War Department, Northern
Department Letter Books, Vol. 70, p. 100; Official Records, 2 series, VII,
1 146.

37District Special Orders 175, November 16, 1864, Mereness Calendar,
War Department, Northern Department Orders, Vol. 84, p. 39.

i" s

e °

CAMP MORTON 367

in July, 1863. Many of them had been conscripted into service
and were not sorry to be taken prisoners. When offered
parole on the field, they refused it, having got the impression
from some source that they would be allowed to take the oath
of allegiance to the Union and return home.

Instead of being sent to St. Louis or Memphis, given the
oath and released, as they expected, they were sent to Camp
Morton, and there they had remained. They kept themselves
aloof from the other prisoners, and presently, under the
leadership of Louis Lefebvre, began an agitation to secure
their liberty. Stevens was impressed by their story and by
their good behavior. He gave them what help he could, and
allowed them to communicate with their New Orleans friends.
In May, 1864, Governor Hahn of Louisiana petitioned for
their discharge, and in July, Adjutant General Noble, of In-
diana, wrote to Hoffman on their behalf. It was decided
at Washington, however, that no exception to the rules could
be made in their case : the amnesty proclamation did not apply
to prisoners of war, and the Louisianans were in no way dis-
tinguished from other prisoners who wished to take the oath
of allegiance.

Noble next applied to the generals who had been in charge
of operations at Vicksburg. Had any promises been made to
the Louisianans? Major General John A. Logan had made
none ; General Sherman said that Grant must know about the
matter if anyone did; Grant replied that he had made no
pledges, but recommended on September 22 that all prisoners
sent north from Vicksburg after its capture be allowed to take
the oath of allegiance and be set at liberty.

An order for their release was given on November 25. As
soon as the prisoners' rolls were forwarded, the oath of allegi-
ance was administered to over four hundred and fifty men
and they were released on January 2 and 3, 1865. After
eighteen months of confinement they were a worn, ragged,
sorry crew, most of them without funds; the Sentinel, indig-
nant at their long, undeserved imprisonment, demanded that
they be given care and assistance in making their way home.
The prisoners themselves showed a generous spirit, acknowledg-

368 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

ing with gratitude the efforts that had been made on their
behalf by camp and state officials.38

February, 1865, was a month the prisoners had several
reasons to remember. On the first of the month the rations
of nonworking prisoners were cut again. The issue of hard
bread was reduced from 14 to 10 ounces, but this reduction did
not cause much additional discomfort at Camp Morton where
prisoners received fresh bread from the post baker. The
soap ration was reduced one half, the salt issue almost that
much, and the vinegar ration was cut one third. The new
regulations provided that these three items, if insufficient,
might be increased by the commanding officer of the post
not to exceed the ration allowed soldiers of the Union Army.
Antiscorbutics were to be purchased from the prison fund if
post surgeon and commandant certified that they were neces-
sary. It is possible that Stevens and Surgeon Kipp, influenced
by the heavy fatalities during the winter months, took advantage
of these provisos to keep the rations of salt, vinegar, and vege-
tables at an adequate figure. About the middle of the month,
after a complaint from the Confederate agent of exchange,
camp sutlers were again permitted to sell vegetables ; other
foods and necessary clothing were allowed by a later order.39

The cut in the soap ration was less distressing at the
moment. In December Lieutenant Davidson had found the
men throwing their soap around the barracks. It was a sorry
spectacle to be witnessed by the man who had expended much
energy in improving the sanitary condition of barracks and
prisoners, but common humanity forbade his compelling them
to continue their outdoor bathing and laundry in icy weather.40

In the middle of the month Governor Morton adjourned

^Official Records, 2 series, VII, 466-67, 520, 608-10, 1158, 1179, 1232;
Indianapolis Sentinel, January 4, 1865, p. 3, c. 2. Lefebvre and a companion
made a table and box for Mrs. Stevens, as a token of their appreciation of
Colonel Stevens' kindness. Carnahan, Camp Morton, 17.

^Official Records, 2 series, VIII, 62-63, 113, 144, 187-88, 209-10, 215,
310, 358, 412, 506. A district special order of August 2, 1864, required that
bread for all the camps in and around Indianapolis be furnished from the post
bakehouse. Mereness Calendar, War Department, Northern Department
Orders, Vol. 80, p. 82.

"Official Records, 2 series, VII, 1273.

CAMP MORTON 369

the legislature for a morning- and led the members out to Camp
Morton to see how the rebels fared. The prisoners behaved
much better than on the inauspicious occasion when the
Governor had introduced Parson Brownlow, standing quietly
in line with uncovered heads while the procession passed by.
Their uniforms were a faded motley of Confederate gray and
Union blue, with blankets serving as coats in many cases, but
according to the Journal most of the men appeared to be
comfortably clothed and sufficiently fed. The new hospital
quarters made a good impression.41

Far more momentous than legislative inspections and ration
cuts was the knowledge that exchange of prisoners had recom-
menced and that Stevens had been ordered to make preparations
for it. Increasing clamor among the citizens and a flood of peti-
tions from the wretched Union men in the Andersonville,
Macon, Charleston, and Savannah prison camps had forced
the hands of Stanton and Grant, who believed that one
way to shorten the war was to hang on to all Con-
federate prisoners. Grant put the matter realistically in
a letter of August 18, 1864 :42

4Tt is hard on our men held in Southern prisons not to
exchange them, but it is humanity to those left in the ranks to
fight our battles. Every man we hold, when released on
parole or otherwise, becomes an active soldier against us at
once either directly or indirectly. If we commence a system of
exchange which liberates all prisoners taken, we will have to
fight on until the whole South is exterminated."

Butler, then in charge of exchange, had the happy idea of
exchanging invalids who would not be ready for the field in
less than sixty days. This would fit in with Grant's ideas and
at the same time quiet the public anger to some degree.
Hoffman informed camp commandants of this plan on
October 1, and directed them to be ready for the order to send
sick prisoners forward. Some exchanges of this sort took
place in the East during the autumn, but no men were sent
from Camp Morton.43

"Indiana House Journal, 1865, p. 415; Senate Journal, 1865, p. 341;
Indianapolis Journal, February 16, 1865, p. 1, c. 1.
i2Official Records, 2 series, VII, 606-7.
iZIbid., VII, 71)3, 907.

370 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

On the fifteenth of October Grant took over the business
of exchange. Pressed by insistent citizens and a harrassed
Congress, he began negotiations for the exchange of all
prisoners, and on February 2, 1865, ordered his agent, Colonel
John E. Mulford, to arrange for the delivery of three thousand
a week. To delay the reinforcement of the Confederate armies
by returning prisoners, he asked that disabled troops from the
states of Missouri, Kentucky, Arkansas, Tennessee, and
Louisiana — all now under Federal control — be sent first.44 This
part of the order immediately produced a new problem : a
large proportion of the prisoners from the conquered states
did not want to be exchanged.

At Camp Morton, for example, Stevens discovered that out
of the 1,882 prisoners from Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee,
Arkansas, and Louisiana — about 45 per cent of the whole
number of prisoners in camp — only 366 wanted to be ex-
changed. "The remaining 1,516," reported Stevens, "express
freely their desire to remain in prison until such time as they
can be released by taking the oath as prescribed in the Presi-
dent's proclamation, December 8, 1863." They were heartily
sick of war; their states were out of the struggle; and most of
them wanted nothing but a chance to rejoin their families and
begin life over. Grant would have sent them on, but the
Secretary of War directed that they be held at the camp
until further orders.45

The two thousand prisoners who left Camp Morton for
exchange in February and March, were, then, men who were
eager to be back in the Confederate lines, though a large
number of them were unfit for immediate service. In one
installment of five hundred, two hundred were convalescents —
the Sentinel predicted gloomily that many of them would never
reach their destination. The first lot started off on February
19, in charge of a lieutenant and a hundred men. Cooked
rations were supplied for four days. They were taken by

"Official Records, 2 series, VIII, 97-98, 170.

45Indianapolis Journal, February 8, 1865, p. 4, c. 1 ; February 11, p. 4, c. I ;
Official Records, 2 series, VIII, 203. On February 24, Hoffman notified
all camp commandants that no prisoners were to be sent for exchange who
did not wish to go. Ibid., VIII, 301.

CAMP MORTON 371

rail to Baltimore, then by boat to Point Lookout, and from
there to Aiken's Landing on the James River, where they were
turned over to the Confederate agents about the first of
March.46 Five hundred more left for City Point, Virginia,
about February 25, and in March another thousand were sent
forward in two divisions. Among them were a few citizen
prisoners whose homes were within the rebel lines. Citizens
held on grave charges, or undergoing sentence were detained at
the camp.47

Captain Castleman and Lieutenant Munford were sent
forward at this time on special exchange. They reached Point
Lookout, only to be detained on the strength of a letter from
General Hovey, who considered Castleman too dangerous to
be released and recommended that he be tried or banished.
After several weeks of uncertainty and a sojourn in the Old
Capital Prison at Washington they were returned to Indian-
apolis. On June 28, Castleman gave his parole to leave the
country forever; he was put across the river into Canada at
Detroit a few days later and lived abroad until pardoned by
President Johnson. Munford was finally allowed to take the
oath of allegiance and released.48

During February and March six hundred Confederates
were released in addition to the number who were sent for
exchange. Some of them belonged to the large number of
prisoners who had refused parole at Vicksburg in 1863, and
whose release on taking the oath of allegiance had been ordered
some months before.49 The rest — enough to make up two

46Mereness Calendar, Post Special Orders 12, 14, 16, and 19, Camp
Morton, Indiana, February 17 and 25, March 4 and 14, 1865, War Depart-
ment, Northern Department Orders, Vol. 126, pp. 54, 55, 56, 59; Wyeth,
"Cold Cheer at Camp Morton," in Century Magazine, XLI, 852 ; Carnahan,
Camp Morton, 59; Indianapolis Sentinel, February 23, 1865, p. 3, c. 1;
February 27, p. 3, c. 1 ; March 16, p. 3, c. I.

"Official Records, 2 series, VIII, 329-

48Castleman, Active Service, 180-88; Official Records, 2 series, VIII,
368-69, 477, 519, 704-5; Stevens to Hoffman, March 23, 1865, Hoffman to
Stevens, March 24, 1865, Mereness Calendar, War Department, Letters Re-
ceived, Secretary of War ; Hovey to S. C. Skinner, June 28, 1865, ibid., War
Department, Northern Department Letter Books, Vol. 70, p. 105.

^Official Records, 2 series, VII, 11 58.

372 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

companies — enlisted in the Union Army and were transferred
to duty at Camp Douglas, Chicago.50

On the first of April, 1865, there remained at Camp Morton
1,408 prisoners. Lee's surrender on the ninth, removing the
last possibility of a victory for the Confederacy, wiped out
Grant's objections to releasing them. There remained the
problem of getting them back to their homes in as orderly a
fashion as possible. Preference was given those who had
refused exchange and signified their willingness to take the
oath of allegiance before the capture of Richmond. Camp
commandants administered the oath and the discharged
prisoners were furnished transportation home.51

Camp Morton was almost depopulated by the end of May.
Day after day Stevens discharged groups of from forty to
three or four hundred Confederates, until by June 1 there were
only 308 prisoners left in camp. Many of the ragged and
penniless Southerners made applications for work as soon as
they were released.52

A General Order of June 6 provided for the release of
prisoners who had not been included in any former order.
Commanders were instructed to begin discharges with the men
who had been longest in prison and those who were furthest
from their homes. The oath of allegiance was required
of all; those who wished to, were permitted to take the
oath of amnesty.53

The last group departed from Indianapolis as several
Indiana regiments returned to the jubilant and lavish welcome

50General Hovey had recommended the enlistment of prisoners of war
at Camp Morton in September, 1864. Mereness Calendar, War Department,
Northern Department Letter Books, Vol. 69, pp. 138-39. An order for the
enlistment of two companies was given on March 14, 1865. Ibid., War
Department, Northern Department Orders, Vol. 84, pp. 22, 24-25 ; Vol. 126,
p. 61.

51General Orders No. 85, May 8, 1865, Official Records, 2 series, VIII,
538. This order excepted all officers above the rank of colonel.

"Mereness Calendar, Post Special Orders, May 10, 1865 and following,
War Department, Northern Department Orders, Vol. 126, pp. 67 ff. ; Indian-
apolis Sentinel, May 12, 1865, p. 3, c. 1 ; May 22, p. 3, c. 1 ; May 23, p. 3, c. 1.

^Official Records, 2 series, VIII, 641. Officers above the rank of cap-
tain and graduates of the United States Naval or Military academies were
excepted.

CAMP MORTON 373

of a happy state. No one could look upon the two groups of
men and remain untouched by the contrast between them.
"Yesterday . . . the last remnant of the rebel prisoners con-
fined in Camp Morton were released, " said the Journal of June
14. "In tattered gray and butternut the poor fellows straggled
down our streets in search of transportation to their homes.
The departure of many of these has been delayed because they
were in the hospital. As we saw them, haggard and pale,
tottering along with their little poverty-stricken bundles, we
felt sincerely sorry for them. In our heart there was no bitter-
ness of feeling against them ; and we were glad, without
qualification, that they were free once more.

"... They go back to a conquered country — to overgrown
fields — to ruined villages — to homes, the chimneys of which
only are left. This could not be helped. War is a hard thing,
and it leaves a black and damning trail."54

In the military prison at Camp Morton there remained
seven unhappy men who should have been sharing the welcome
given the Union troops. They had deserted from the Union
Army, and while prisoners in the hands of the enemy had taken
the oath of allegiance to the Confederate Government and
joined the rebel forces. When chance made them prisoners of
their former comrades they were conveyed to the Camp Morton
jail.

Now that the war was over, officials were eager to get
them off their hands as quietly as possible. No one wanted an
expensive and embarrassing trial, and the men could do no
harm if released. Like the other prisoners they were given the
oath of allegiance and set free. Forty members of the Veteran
Reserve Corps who had been consigned to the guardhouse for
mutiny were disposed of with the same regard for peace
and economy : they were given a dishonorable discharge
without pay.55

Left in Greenlawn Cemetery were the bodies of the Con-
federates who had died at Camp Morton since February, 1862.
Some of the bodies were later exhumed and returned to
relatives in the South ; most of them remained in the little

"Indianapolis Journal, June 14, 1865, p. 2, c. r.
'""Official Records, 2 series, VIII, 691-92, 704-5.

374 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

cemetery, the long ranges of graves slowly disappearing under
a growth of high grass, the painted identification numbers on
the wooden headboards fading into undecipherable blurs. In
the sixties, the old City Cemetery and Greenlawn ceased to be
used as public burial places, and industrial developments began
to encroach upon the site. Occasional inquiries were made by
officers of Confederate associations as to the condition of
the prisoners' graves, but nothing was done about renumbering
them or improving their condition.

In the 1870' s the Vandalia Railroad, needing part of the
ground for an engine house and additional tracks, exchanged
some property on the west side of the cemetery for ground on
the north line in which there were two rows of graves. The
bodies from these two rows were removed and reburied in two
parallel trenches, but the new graves were not marked. In
1906 Colonel William Elliott, detailed by the War Department
to locate the burial place of the Confederate dead, examined the
area, and decided that a plot about forty-five feet wide by two
hundred feet long near the present site of the Diamond Chain
plant, was the place where the reinterments had been made in
1870. This space was enclosed by an iron fence, and in 1912,
the Federal Government erected a monument there in honor of
the Confederate prisoners buried at Greenlawn.

As growing industries of the section continued to press
hard upon the memorial, the Southern Club of Indianapolis
asked the Board of Park Commissioners for permission to
remove the monument to Garfield Park. In 1928 it was re-
moved to its present position in the southern section of the
park. The names and organizations of the dead are listed on
bronze tablets ; the shaft bears the following inscription :

CAMP MORTON 375

PAX

Erected
by THE

United States

to MARK

The Burial Place

of 1616 Confederate

Soldiers and Sailors

Who died Here

While Prisoners

of War

And Whose Graves

Cannot Now be

Identified

The plot enclosed after Colonel Elliott's investigation is
now overgrown with weeds and grass, earth has been filled in
and the fence removed. An old resident who said he had
witnessed the reinterment of bodies made in 1870, believed that
it was made at least a hundred yards southwest of the plot
designated by Colonel Elliott, but it has been proved that there
were some burials in the enclosed area, and in 1931 the War
Department had them removed to Crown Hill Cemetery.
They are buried along the north side of Section 32 and the
place is marked by a dignified stone monument.56

At Camp Morton, disposal of camp property began as soon
as the prisoners were gone. Property that had been purchased
from the prisoners' fund was appraised and sold at public auc-
tion in July, 1865, and on August 2 the buildings were declared
vacant. Claims of the State Board of Agriculture for damages

66Indianapolis Sentinel, January 31, 1865, p. 3, c. 1; Indianapolis News,
February 24, 1897, p. 6, c. 3 ; November 29, 1906, p. 5, c. 2 ; p. 6, c. 3 ; Report
of Fifth Corps Area Inspector to the Inspector General, February 17, 1931 ;
interview with the late David I. McCormick ; Crown Hill Cemetery Records ;
Transcript of the Grave Stones Remaining in Greenlawn Cemetery, Indian-
apolis, 1920, compiled under the supervision of Joseph R. H. Moore, and
presented to the Indiana State Library.

376 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

to the fairgrounds were eventually settled by the United
States for $9,8i6.56.57

There was little about the Camp Morton of midsummer,
1865, to recall Henderson's Grove or the fairgrounds of 186 1.
Hundreds of trees had been cut for lumber or firewood, and
the earth was pitted and scarred. Three thousand dollars was
voted by the city for its rehabilitation. Later an "exposition
building" was erected, and the grounds were used by the fair
association until the nineties. Under the pressure of a growing
population, the property was sold, the state ditch was supplanted
by a part of the city's drainage system, streets were built, and
the area was platted as a residence district which is still known
as Morton Place.58

Between 19 13 and 191 5 two or three different groups and
organizations made tentative plans to mark the site of Camp
Morton, but for some reason none of these was carried out. In
19 16 the teachers and pupils of School Forty-five (at Park
Avenue and Twenty-third Street) marked the camp site by a
boulder placed at Alabama and Nineteenth streets where the
main entrance to the enclosure probably lay.59 Cut into the
stone is the following inscription :

CAMP MORTON
1861-1865

ERECTED BY SCHOOL FORTY-FIVE
I916

57Mereness Calendar, Post Orders 6 and 10, Camp Morton, June 28 and
July 15, 1865, War Department, Northern Department Orders, Vol. 126,
pp. in, 114; Official Records, 2 series, VIII, 714; State Board of Agricul-
ture, Report, 1868, p. 29.

58Brown, "History of Indianapolis," in Logan's Indianapolis Direc-
tory . . . 1868, p. 64 ; deed of December 22, 1891, Deed Book 25, p. 243, Marion
County Courthouse

59Indianapolis News, August 15, 1913 ; January 16, 1915 ; May 31, 1916;
Indianapolis Star, August 29, 1914.

APPENDIX

APPENDIX
I. ABSTRACT OF MONTHLY RETURNS FROM CAMP MORTON1

G

a

c
O

m
O

eg

0

Transferred

s

a

y

K

H

0)
0)

'Z

0
0

0
5a

Q

03

c

II

0 w

•d

<v
to

c

a

0

X

W

c

5

1862 July

4,Ol8

198

4,2l6

21

5

26

120

Aug.

4,I90

64

4,254

4,122

26

...(4,148

I03

...

Sept.

103

103

08

3

2

103

...

1863 July

in

I,l65

1,2/6

6

16

2

24

39

3

Aug.

1,252

1,808

3,060

1,142

26

6

336

1,510

98

13

Sept.

1,550

51

1,601

2

23

19

70

114

in

24

Oct.

1,487

1,035

2,522

21

36

10

7

74

261

37

Nov.

2,448

706

3,154

68

2

9

79

328

29

Dec.

3,075

297

3,372

5

9i

3

99

244

33

1864 Jan.

3,273

6

3,279

13

104

3

1

121

251

33

Feb.

3,158

57

3,215

...

69

18

7

94

326

32

Mar.

3,121

1

3,122

500

49

3

552

271

29

Apr.

2,570

93

2,663

19

1

43

63

235

26

May

2,600

609

3,209

17

2

4

23

1

248

40

June

3,186

1,350

4,536

55

34

.

• 16

105

324

38

July

4,431

568

4,999

4

81

8

93

350

35

Aug.

4,906

43

4,949

4

9i

7

8

no

34i

33

Sept.

4,839

4,839

8

33

6

14

61

293

32

Oct.

4,778

3

4,78i

. . .

21

1

12

34

217

3i

Nov.

4,747

5

4,752

18

3i

24

74

205

29

Dec.

4,678

167

4,845

16

53

39

108

354

26

1865 Jan.

4,737

5i

4,788

117

4/2

589

355

24

Feb.

4,199

16

4,215

1,000

133

2

214

1,349

272

19

Mar.

2,866

2

2,868

2

1,000

70

388

1,460

218

6

Apr.

1,408

1,408

9

10

45

64

190

2

May

1,343

23

1,366

10

1,037

1,047

46

16

June

319

319

2

2

308

312

13

July

7

7

7

Adapted
2 series, VIII,

from tables covering eleven
987-1003.

(379)

prison camps, Official Records,

380 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

II. DEATHS FROM CERTAIN DISEASES AND CLASSES OF

DISEASES AT CAMP MORTON, JUNE, 1863-JUNE, 1865.1

Number of months recorded 25

Mean strength present 2,865

Cases Deaths

All diseases and injuries 9,122 1,187

Wounds, injuries and unspecified diseases 259 12

Specified diseases 8,863 M75

Continued Fevers 55 42

Malarial Fevers 1 ,954 1 19

Eruptive Fevers 548 85

Diarrhea and Dysentery 2,241 315

Anemia 68 4

Consumption 34 26

Rheumatism 190 5

Scurvy 778 6

Bronchitis 178 1

Pneumonia and Pleurisy 1,351 495

Other diseases 1 ,466 yy

Total specified diseases 8,863 1,175

xAdapted from Table XVIII, covering nine prison depots, in Medical
and Surgical History of the War, Medical Volume, pt. Ill, 46.

CAMP MORTON

381

L M N N5

S o o o

?l XX O M ir. O

I I « I

«« *g ::

•* 5 ^?

.a 2 c

t/i ? O

= £ £ £ ^ o ~

£ «

f,-

OOO -J" O ^ 00 ^1 t^ t, O

s

00000

> ^XOO^O^l'tOMKiOVO-t

00

O J Zl w

N N N N N

c# •§

•P - *°

3 £l

O " u

I I

^O vO -+■ O

00 <N K »0\0 "t

1 ri

ifl ifl in

X5 .O -O -O

0 o o o 0 cr a S3 « s ^ S3 3= ^ 5a

•tOO 00 -fOOOO f K 10°° -TO 10 M 11

o be o

*s o 'g

- 5 o

£ a -a

t> tf V

O o rt

'S •§ .2

u »- u,
y « <u

<!

0 o*

0, n3 $

u, U l»

*p ^ =

«5 S b£

o 3?

^USQWMh-H^U

ri re — ^ ■ — o
u o « rt « m

:— x u r-^ <^

<-5 CO

S3 ? -> £ u. JS

So L" 5

> Oh ft S

382

INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

IV. ABSTRACT OF SUBSISTENCE STORES ISSUED TO REBEL,

CAPTAIN L. L. MOORE ANE'

Rations of

Average
number of
prisoners

^1-

00

u

0
Ph

c
0

pq

pq

<V

pq

u

S-."

0

V
U

pq

*0j

G
J-.

O

u

c
pq

2,918

Jan.

2,148

35,o66

51,056

88,180

26,332

7,86!

2,861

Feb.

28,971

51,850

(310 bbls.,
1 86 lbs.

35,856

12,01

2,552

Mar.

f 5 bbls.,
1 20 lbs.

30,829

47,825

S 466 bbls.,
1 38 lbs.

14,239

11,88

2,252

Apr.

( 16 bbls.,
1 138 lbs.

21,991

42,237

S 473 bbls.,
\ 188 lbs.

10,13

2,550

May

32,299

24,369

f 414 bbls.,
1 46 lbs.

6,439

3,09

3,201

June

29,629

42,560

(411 bbls.,
1 3 lbs.

13,557

3,99

4,455

July

38,823

66,516

S 498 bbls.,
1 163 lbs.

34,978

384

6,10

4,432

Aug.

( 12 bbls.,
1 102 lbs.

16,918

93,030

C 578 bbls.,

1 43 lbs.

8,319

14,554

5,53

4,356

Sep.

12,195

97,276

(624 bbls.,
\ 26 lbs.

7,312

35,273

5,44

4,383

Oct.

12,833

100,944

\ 448 bbls.,
\ 24 lbs.

11,192

8,7/

4,368

Nov.

149 lbs.

2,318

111,221

(579 bbls.,
1 67 lbs.

15,317

8,32

4,315

Dec.

24 lbs.

927

n,473

97,763

S 595 bbls.,
1 15 lbs.

14,998

8,62

Total

Lbs.

13,957

Lbs.

262,799

Lbs.

n,473

Lbs.

826,447

1,146,540

Lbs. | Lbs.
188,533 50,216

Lbs.

91,81 10

CAMP MORTON

3&

1

RISONERS AT CAMP MORTON DURING THE YEAR 1864, BY

APTAIN NAT. SHURTLEFF, A. C. S.1

Rations of

co

<v

O

O

1
0

CD CO

«-M O
OfV

en

u

as
bjo

<v

>

1

- C

CO • .-;

a
0
w

"c3

t/3

<v rn

CO

<u

CO

to

*o

2

5,238

2,926

875

4,437

526

13,569

904

1,131

3,619

3,392

226

226

I3,HO

5,524

2,487

4,873

288

12,016

801

I,OOI

3,204

3,004

200

201

23,768

4,870

3,052

5,840

116

12,109

792

990

3,169

2,971

178

198

20,268

4,058

2,698

5,405

10,134

675

844

2,702

2,534

169

168

23,858

2,077

2,083

5,037

79

n,i34

795

662

3,181

2,783

199

I98

14,407

2,565
3,572
3,962

2,561
8,570
3,544

584

1,635

720

136

1,230

97

3,842
5,525
5,496

3,602
5,180

5J52

29

3,484

3,485

980

5,228

4,901

1,047

4,208

1,019

5,436

5,096

5,157
5,i8i

1

983
1,003

5,242
5,35i

4,915
517

Lbs.

Lbs.

Lbs.

!

I Lbs.

Lbs.

Lbs.

Gals.

Lbs.

Lbs.

Lbs.

Lbs.

Gals.

100,649

1 34,8o5

38,901

26,176

1,009

6o,597

io,738

4,725

57,996

48,547

972

1,020

1 Adapted from a table printed in Carnahan, Camp Morton, pp. 54-55-

INDEX

INDEX

Adams, Lt. J. W., 297.

Aiken's Landing (Va.), 371.

Alexander, Charles T., medical in-
spector, recommendations for
Camp Morton, 354, 355.

Allegheny and Portage Railway,
107.

Amboy (Ind.), Friends' Academy,
account of, 196-97 ; mentioned,
176.

A.nderson (Ind.), Indianapolis and
Bellefontaine Railroad reaches,
62-64.

Annapolis (Md.), camp for paroled
prisoners at, 301.

Antislavery Friends, 194.

Arkansas Post, 315.

Arba (Ind.), Friends' school, 166.

Arcemont, Goacin, 345.

Armstrong, Thomas, 198.

Babb, Clement E., 86-87.

Bakehouse, Camp Morton, 267, 368.

Baldwin Locomotive Works, 107,
108.

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, see
Junction Railroad; Ohio and
Mississippi Railroad Company.

Beall, Gen. William N. R., 361.

Beech Grove Monthly Meeting,
elementary school, 168.

Beech Grove Seminary (Union
Co.), 195-96.

Benezet, Anthony, 123.

Bethel Friends' school (Morgan
Co.), 167-68.

Bethel Friends' school (Wayne
Co.), account of, 160; curricu-
lum, 142.

Biddlc, Col. James, commandant at
Camp Morton, 316, 322.

Bin ford, John H., 194.

Bin ford, Mattie, 194.

Blankets, see Camp Morton, prison
camp, clothing and blankets.

Bloomingdale Academy, account of,
197-98; closes, 214; courses of
study, 185-87 ; items from cata-
logue, 181-83; spiritual instruc-
tion, 180; mentioned, 177.

Bloomington (Ind.), failure of
project for railroad from Co-
lumbus to, 74-76.

Blue River Academy (Washington
Co.), 200-1.

Blue River Quarter, Western
Yearly Meeting, 167.

Bobbs, Dr. John S., medical inspec-
tor, Camp Morton training
camp, 240; surgeon, Camp
Morton prison camp, 305, 325,
326.

Bond, Pleasant, 168.

Boone, Richard G., on Beech Grove
Seminary, 196; principal, Sand
Creek Friends' Seminary, 204;
mentioned, 150.

Bradley, J. H., director, Columbus
and Bloomington Railroad, 75.

Bragg, Gen. Braxton, 284.

Brattain, Robert, 127-28.

Breckenridge, Samuel, 365.

Bridgeport Monthly Meeting, ele-
mentary school, 138, 169-70.

Bright, Michael G., 70, 71.

British Corn Laws, effect of re-
peal on Madison and Indianap-
olis Railroad, 30-31.

(387)

388

INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

B rough, John, on American and
English -[- rails, 105 ; president,
Madison and Indianapolis Rail-
road, 82, 83 ; president, Union
Board, ioin ; urges Madison to
finance railroad, 71-72.

Brown, Austin H., editor, Indiana
State Sentinel, 7 ; on rivalry
between Indianapolis and Mad-
ison, 95-98.

Brown, Oliver, 150.

Brown, William J., editor, Indiana
State Sentinel, 7.

Brown County, railroad through,
predicted, 74.

Browning, Edmund, 58n.

Brownlow, Rev. William G., 278-
79, 369.

Brushwood Friends' school (Mar-
ion Co.), 168-69.

Buckner, Gen. Simon B., impris-
oned in Indianapolis, 259 ; men-
tioned, 284.

Bullard, Dr. Talbot, 307.

Bullard, Dr. Will, 307.

Butler, Gen. Benjamin F., 369.

Cadiz Friends' school, 162.

Cambridge City (Ind.), railroad to
Columbus from, 86.

Cameron, Simon, Secretary of
War, 251.

Camp Burnside (Indianapolis), 280.

Camp Butler (Springfield, 111.),
Civil War prison camp, 253.

Camp Carrington (Indianapolis),
316.

Camp Chase (Columbus, Ohio),
Civil War prison camp, criti-
cism of laxness at, 270; used
for paroled prisoners, 301, 302;
mentioned, 253, 259, 260, 335,
348.

Camp Douglas (Chicago, 111.), 253,
255, 324, 350, 366, 372.

Camp Morton (Indianapolis), fair
grounds appropriated for, 250,
253;

military prison, erection of,
343, 365;

parolee camp, 301-4;
prison camp, arrivals, 256-58,
315, 318-19, 324, 336; captives
from Morgan's raid, 322, 323-
24; care of dead, 312-13, 374,
375 ; clearing and closing of,
372-73, 376; clothing and
blankets, 260, 268-69, 290, 329,
33^-37, 338, 339-40, 342, 360-
61 ; commandants : James Bid-
die, 316-22; Albert J. Guth-
ridge, 322, 327-28 ; David W.
Hamilton, 323-27 ; Richard
Owen, 262-85; David Gar-
land Rose, 286-304; Ambrose
A. Stevens, 333 ff. ; differ-
ences in administration
among, 283-84, 288, 322-23,
333, 343 ; duties, 265-66, 268,
289, 290;
considered undesirable place
for prisoners, 317-18, 319, 320;
deaths, 311 -12, 324, 329, 336,
341, 342-43, 358, 379, (table)
380; deplorable condition, 314,
325, 327-31, 334, 343, 353; dis-
arming of prisoners, 274, 289;
division of prisoners into com-
panies, 263, 264, 289; emer-
gency aid for first arrivals,
260-61, 305-8; escapes and

tunnelins

276-79, 292-93,

327, 343-48, 363-65 ; exchanges :
T862, pp. 293-300; 1863, pp.
317, 370-72: chart of, 379;

Federal control, 314; food:
bakehouse, 267, 368; bone
butter, 359-60 ; bartering for,
359-60 ; preparation, 330, 338-
39, 353; rat and dog eating,

INDEX

389

360; rations, 266-67, 328-29,
337-38, 350-51, 352-53, 354-
55, 360, 368, (charts) 381,
382-83 ; see also sutlers ;
fuel, 339, guards : arms for,
276, 278; brutality of a few,
346-47 ; demoralization of,
327; efficiency of, 342; in-
structions to, 264; lack of,
352, 366 ; paroled troops used
as, 316, 327; partially with-
drawn during Morgan's raid,
322 ; quarters for, 279-80 ;
regiments composing, 261-62,
278, 283, 286-87, 316, 320,
327, 333, 334, 363; suffer-
ings endured by, 274, 275,
279-80, 340, 346; three-
months men, 283, 296; men-
tioned, 334, 352;
health and diseases, 305, 306,
311-12, 315, 316, 324, 325, 329,
334, 336, 34i, 353-54, 380; hos-
pitals : additions and expan-
sions, 310-n, 331-32, 334,
342, 356-58; Col. Clark on,
329-30; condition of, 316-17,
326-27, 353-54, 354-55 ; emer-
gency, 305-9; Dr. Funk-
houser on, 331 ; fund for,
289-90, 308, 331, 329; Hum-
phreys on, 325 ; inadequate,

305, 316-17, 324-26, 334, 353-
54, 358; number of patients,
3ii, 329, 334, 354, 358; per-
sonnel of staffs, 289, 305,

306, 307, 309, 310, 316, 329,
33i, 342, 354; rent and sal-
aries for, 307, 329;

inspections : Surgeon Alexan-
der, 354, 355; Col. Clark,
328-31 ; Lt. Davidson 355,
368; Col. Hoffman, 256; In-
spector Humphreys, 327 ;

intoxicants, 274, 349 ; issues of

straw to prisoners, 268, 339;
Louisianans seek release from,
366-67 ; mail and gifts for pris-
oners, regulation of, 263-64,
268, 270, 291, 292, 348; marker,
374-76; money belonging to
prisoners, 271-72, 291 ; number
of prisoners, 258, 275, 324, 325,

353, 372; petitions from pris-
oners, 280-82; prisoners' fund,
264, 267-68, 290-91, 292, 298,
308, 350, 354; prisoners take
oath of allegiance, 282, 294-95,
296, 370; punishments and
shooting of prisoners, 274-75,
293, 346-48, 35i ; quarters, 255-
56, 301, 3i5-i6, 328, 334, 353,

354, 355-56; recreation, 263,
264, 272-74, 317, 360; regula-
tions for cleanliness, 264, 268,
276, 342, 343, 354, 355, 368; re-
lease of prisoners at close of
war, 2>72 ', retaliation for treat-
ment of Union prisoners at,
326, 2>27 ; rolls of prisoners,
265-66, 289, 323 ; rules govern-
ing : issued by Owen, 262-65 ;

by Hoffman, 289-92;
soap, 355, 368 ; status of color-
ed prisoners, 259; story of cele-
bration of Confederate victory
near Richmond, 288 ; suffering
from extreme weather, 336,
341-42, 353; sutlers, 263, 272,
291, 338, 348, 349-50, 358-59,'
unrest among prisoners, 274-75,
278, 279, 323, 346, 348, 351-52;
visited by Indiana legislature,
291-92, 368-69; visitors' regula-
tions, 269-70, 323 ; weakened
condition of prisoners upon ar-
rival, 260, 305, 3ii, 336; see
also Civil War, prisoners;
training camp, care of dead,
247 ; clothing, 245-46, 250 ; con-

390

INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

fusion, 241, 242, 243-44, 249-
50 ; drills, 242-43 ; medical serv-
ice and health, 240, 246-47;
opening of, 240; order for the
day, 244; post office, 244;
quarters, 240-41, 242; rations,
247-49 ; recreation, 245 ; regi-
ments, 242 ; turnover among
officers, 249-50; visitors, 243-

44.

Campbell, William B., 295.

Canals, see Transportation; Wa-
bash and Erie Canal.

Cann Bill, 218-19.

Carmel (Ind.), see Richland Acad-
emy.

Carnahan, James R., defense of
Camp Morton, 347n.

Carrington, Gen. Henry B., re-
ports : on conditions at Camp
Morton, 341 ; on secret order
in Indiana, 317-T8, 351, 362-

63;
mentioned, 322, 352.

Carter, Elva Taylor, 169.

Carthage (Ind.), Friends' Acad-
emy, account of, 196; men-
tioned, 176.

Castleman, Capt. John Brecken-
ridge, 365-66, 371.

Cathcart, Andrew, railroad engi-
neer, 55, 61, 107.

Cedar Grove Seminary (Union
Co.), 164.

Center Friends' school, Fairfield
Quarter, 169.

Center Friends' school, Thorntown
Quarter, 171.

Central Academy (Plainfield), ac-
count of, 201-2; closes, 214;
courses of study, 189; student
life at, 189-90.

Century Magazine, articles on
Camp Morton in, mentioned,
347n.

Chaplains, not held as prisoners in
Civil War, 260.

Chapman, George A., 7.

Chapman, Jacob Page, editor, In-
diana State Sentinel, criti-
cism of Madison and Indian-
apolis Railroad, 46; on effect
of Madison and Indianapolis
Railroad on Indianapolis, $$-
35, 41 ; on effect of repeal of
British Corn Laws on Indiana
agriculture, 30-31 ; on Madison
and Indianapolis Railroad acci-
dent, 32-33 ; on Michigan Road,
44n-45n ; on National Road,
15; on northern and eastern
railroad routes out of Indian-
apolis, 45, 46; on W. H. H.
Terrell, 40; opposes taxes for
completion of Madison and In-
dianapolis Railroad, 25 ; plays
on rivalry between Indianap-
olis and Madison, 49; reply to
Cambridge Reveille, 49n-50n ;
urges agitation for Madison
and Indianapolis Railroad, 21-
22 ; mentioned, 7-8.

Charles, Thomas, 206.

Chenoweth, J. W., on Jericho
Friends' school, 166.

Chester Monthly Meeting, school,
167.

Chicago (111.), rivals Indianapolis
for railroad business, 58-59.

Cincinnati (Ohio), agricultural
fair, 82-83 ; bids for trade from
central and western Indiana,
66-69 ; rivals Indianapolis for
railroad business, 58-59 ; travel-
ing time between Indianapolis
and, 1825, p. 5; and 1844, p.
25. See also Indianapolis and
Cincinnati Railroad.

Cincinnati Commercial, 83.

Cincinnati Gazette, 66-69, 78.

INDEX

391

City Hospital, see Indianapolis

(Ind.), City Hospital.
City Point (Va.), exchange depot,

315,3/1.
Civil War, army rations, 248; de-
serters, 343 ; effect of blockade
on South, 268-69 ; importance
of railroads in, 85n-86n, I03n ;
opening, effect on Indianap-
olis, 239-40; prisoners: anti-
liquor rule, 349; camps for
paroled, 301-4; clothing and
provisions for, 269, 336-37,
361 ; cost of subsisting,
267; efforts to free, 351-52,
361-62 ; exchanges, 296-300,
317, 335, 369-72; paroled,
292; rations, 266, 350-51, 368,
381 ; release of chaplains and
surgeons, 260 ; retaliation,
326, 335-36, 348; rules gov-
erning, 262, 289-92, 335-36;
separation of officers from
their troops, 253, 258-59;
status of colored among,
259, 317; status of guerilla
and political, 297, 298; sys-
tems of caring for, 251-53 ;
three types, 251-52; see also
Camp Morton and names of
other prison camps ;
raids into Indiana, 282, 320-22 ;
sutlers, 338, 348, 349-50, 358.
Clark, Augustus M., medical in-
spector, reports on Camp Mor-
ton, 328-31, 342.
Clay, Henry, 14, 15.
Clear Spring Friends' school

(Henry Co.), 161-62.
Clinton, De Witt, 66.
Clothing, see Camp Morton, prison
camp, clothing and blankets ;
training camp, clothing.
Coffin, Charles F., Quaker edu-
cator, 150.

Columbus (Ind.), advertisement of
hotel in, 25-26; failure of
project for railroad from
Bloomington to, 74-76.

Columbus and Cambridge City
Railroad, 86.

Columbus and Shelbyville Railroad,
71-72, 72n-/3n.

Columbus Gazette, 38-40.

Comly, John, quotations from Eng-
lish Grammar , 146.

Concord Quarter, see Thorntown
Quarter.

Cook, , teacher, Plainfield

Friends' school, 169.

Copeland, Albert L., on Lick Creek
Friends' school, 167.

Cotton, Fasset, on Barnabas C.
Hobbs, 149-50 ; on education in
early Indiana, 211.

Cows, cause of railroad accidents,

IIO-II.

Crawford, Nathan, sutler at Camp

Morton, 272.
Cumberland Road, see National

Road.
Cunningham, S. A., 284-85.

Davidson, Lt. J. W., inspector at

Camp Morton, 355, 368.
Davis, Clarkson, 150, 191.
Davis, Hannah, 150, 191.
Defrees, John D., editor, Indiana

State Journal, 7, 83, 84-85.
Dennis, David W., principal,

Bloomingdale Academy, 182,

198; mentioned, 150.
Diseases, see Camp Morton, prison

camp, health and diseases;

training camp, medical service

and health.
Dix, Gen. John A., 299.
Doan, Amos, on purposes of

Friends' education, 139-41.
Doan, Enos, T50.

392

INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Dodd, H. H., Indiana grand com-
mander, Sons of Liberty, 362-

63-
Donohue, Dillard C, postmaster,

Camp Morton, 244.
Dougherty, J. F., 244.
Douglas, Stephen A., 244.
Dover Monthly Meeting school

(Wayne Co.), account of, 195;

curriculum, 142-43.
Draper, Luther O., 218-19.
Driftwood Monthly Meeting, 127.
Duck Creek Monthly Meeting, 162.
Duke, Gen. Basil W., 362.
Dunlap, Dr. Livingston, 309.

Earlham College (formerly
Friends' Boarding School), ac-
count of, 207-9 I mentioned, 161,
202, 220.

Easton (West Newton, Ind.),
Friends' school, 168.

Education, in early Indiana, 211;
legislation on, 211, 215, 217,
218-19 5 see also Society of
Friends : education, elementary
schools, seminaries and acad-
emies ; names of Friends'
schools.

Edwards, Josiah P., principal,
Bloomingdale Academy, 198.

Ekin, Capt. James A., quartermas-
ter, Indianapolis, converts
Camp Morton into prison
camp, 255-56, 261 ; mentioned,
267, 268, 269, 292, 305, 309,
3i6, 325, 337-

Elliott, Col. William, 374, 375.

Elm Grove Friends' school (Henry
Co.), 63.

Evansville (lnd.), 102.

Exchange of prisoners, see Camp
Morton, prison camp, ex-
changes ; Civil War, prisoners :
exchanges.

Fairfield Monthly Meeting, ac-
count of school, 206; commit-
tee on education, 137, 138, 168.

Fairfield Quarter, Western Yearly
Meeting, 168-69.

Fairgrounds, see Indiana State
Fairgrounds.

Fairmount Academy (Grant Co.),
account of, 192-93 ; courses of
study, 189; decline and closing
of, 214-15, 216, 219; men-
tioned, 178.

Fairmount Quarterly Meeting (for-
merly Northern), 192.

Farmers' Institute (Tippecanoe
Co.), account of, 202-3.

Fitchburg and Worcester Railroad,
46.

Fite, Emerson D., on railroads in
Civil War, 85n-86n, I03n.

Flat Rock Friends' school (Henry
Co.), 163.

Fletcher, Calvin, 238n.

Fletcher, Elma, 169.

Fletcher, Dr. William B., 244, 306,

309.

Fort Delaware (Del.), Civil War
prison camp, 318, 319.

Fort Donelson (Tenn.), captured,
253 I prisoners from, 305.

Fort Henry (Tenn.), captured,
253 ; prisoners from, 305.

Fort Sumter (S. C), 239.

Fort Warren (Mass.), Civil War
prison, 253, 254.

Foster, Capt. Thomas, Jr., commis-
sary of subsistence at Indian-
apolis and Camp Morton, 301,
3i6.

Fountain City (Ind.), see Newport.

Fox, George, Quaker leader, 123.

Foxworthy, Theodore, 218.

Freedley, Capt. H. W., 297, 298,
301.

Friends, see Society of Friends.

INDEX

393

Friends' Academy, later Hadley's
Academy (Wayne Co.), 161.

Friends' Boarding School, see Earl-
ham College.

Friese, Priscilla, 165.

Funkhouser, Dr. David, physician
at Camp Morton, 316, 326, 329-
30, 33 1-

Garber, Michael C, editor, Madi-
son Courier, 7 ; answers Cin-
cinnati Commercial on news-
paper transportation, 83-84 ; de-
clares Madison's prosperity
unimpaired, 94-95 ; ridicules J.
D. Def rees, 83 ; urges cessation
of spirit of rivalry among In-
diana towns, 91.

General Assembly of Indiana, see
Indiana General Assembly.

Geography, teaching of, in Quaker
schools, 142.

Gettysburg, Battle of, 321.

Gibson, William, 272.

Gilbert, Elihu, 164.

Grant, Ulysses S., on exchange of
prisoners, 369, 370; mentioned,
318, 367.

Gravelly Run school (Montgomery
Co.), 171.

Greenfield Monthly Meeting,
Farmers' Institute, 202-3.

Greenlawn Cemetery (Indianap-
olis), section for Confederate
prisoners, 312, 373-74-

Green Mount Boarding School
(Wayne Co.), 161.

Greensboro (Ind.), Friends' Semi-
nary, 162.

Gresham, Col. Walter Q., regiment
guards Camp Morton, 262.

Guards, see Camp Morton, prison
camp, guards.

Gummere, Francis B., "The Yearly
Meeting School," 207.

Guthridge, Capt. Albert H., com-
mandant at Camp Morton, 322,
327, 328.

Hadley, Hiram, teacher, Carthage
Friends' Academy, 150, 196.

Hadley's Academy, see Friend's
Academy.

Hager, John, 5.

Hahn, George M. D., governor of
Louisiana, 367.

Hall, Henry R., superintendent,
Madison and Indianapolis Rail-
road, 4811.

Halleck, Gen. Henry W., seeks
camps for prisoners, 253 ; de-
plores retaliation, 335 ; men-
tioned, 283, 307, 361.

Hamilton, David W., commandant
of Camp Morton, 323, 326.

Hanover Academy, 205.

Hardy's Fork Friends' school
(Hancock Co.), 165.

Harris, Addison C, on discipline
in Friends' schools, 147-48.

Hastings, Seth, 198.

Haughton, William, principal,
Whitewater Monthly Meeting-
school, 128 ; mentioned, 147,
150.

Hayworth, John D., 168.

Henderson, Samuel, 237.

Henderson's Grove, 237, 238, 240,
376.

Hiatt, Isaac, 128.

Hicksite Quakers, schools in
Whitewater Monthly Meeting,
161.

Hill, Gen. Daniel H., 299.

Hill, William, 165.

Hines, Capt. Thomas H., invades
Indiana, 320; mentioned, 365.

Hinkle's Creek Friends' school
(Hamilton Co.), 172-73.

Hitchcock, Gen. Ethan A., 335.

394

INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Hittle, Anna R., 153-54-
Hobbs, Barnabas C, on discipline
in Quaker schools, 147 ; on
teaching of geography, 142 ;
principal, Bloomingdale Acad-
emy, 185, 197-98; principal,
Whitewater Monthly Meeting
school, 128; quotation from
preface of reader by, 144-45 ;
superintendent, Earlham Col-
lege, 208 ; tribute to, by Fasset
Cotton, 149-50; mentioned, 151.
Hockett, Jesse, 170.
Hodson, Isaac, 191.
Hoffman, Lt. Col. William H.,
commissary general of prison-
ers, appointment, 251 ; arranges
for prisoners to take oath of
allegiance, 296 ; demands ac-
count of shooting prisoners,
345 ; dismisses Dr. Funk-
houser, 331 ; dispute with Gen.
Butler, 348; efforts toward
economy, 255, 309, 354, 355-
56 ; failure to co-operate with
Stevens, 355-58 ; insists Camp
Morton be used as prison camp,
319-20; inspects Camp Morton,
256; installs "Farmers boilers,"
338; issues instructions on ex-
change of prisoners, 297-98 ; on
administration of prisoners'
fund, 268 ; proposes erection
of bakehouse at Camp Mor-
ton, 267 ; reprimands Stevens
for neglect, 337 ; requests
clothes for prisoners, 336-37 ;
resigns for short period, 358;
rules for prison camps, 288-92 ;
seeks reduction in rations, 350-
51 ; suggestions to prevent
escapes, 344 ; urges retaliation,
350-51 ; mentioned, 262, 283,
301, 307, 323, 354, 355, 367.
Hogs, transportation of, 53, 54, 55.

Hole, Dr. Allen D., on Plainfield
Central Academy, 189-90 ; men-
tioned, 150, 209.

Hollingsworth, Isaac, 194.

Holloway, Wr. R., on Madison and
Indianapolis Railroad, 38.

Holloway, W. W., answers Wyeth's
account of Camp Morton, 347n.

Honey Creek Monthly Meeting,
126, 203, 204.

Honey Creek Quarter, see New
London Quarter.

Hopewell (Jennings Co., Ind.),
Friends' secondary school, 206.

Hopewell Friends' school (Henry
Co.), 159-60.

Hopewell Friends' school (Vigo
Co.), 172.

Horton, Cyrus, 138, 168.

Hospitals, see Camp Morton, prison
camp, hospitals ; training camp,
medical service and health ; In-
dianapolis (Ind.), City Hos-
pital.

Hubbard, John R., principal, Union
High School, 184, 199.

Humphreys, Lewis, medical inspec-
tor, report on Camp Morton
hospital, 325.

Hunter, John B., proprieter, Co-
lumbus hotel, 26.

Hutton, Sarah A. E., Friends'
school, 161.

Indiana, educational conditions in
early, 211; effect of panic of
1837 on, 13 ; internal improve-
ment system, 17-18; popula-
tion (1842), 13m

Indiana Central Railroad, char-
tered, 78; completed, 85. See
also Terre Haute and Rich-
mond Railroad.

Indiana General Assembly, amends
charter of Madison and Indian-

INDEX

395

apolis Railroad, 26 ; incorpor-
ates companies for Indianap-
olis and Cincinnati Railroad,
jy ; legislation on schools, 21 1,
215, 217, 218-19; visits Camp
Morton, 368-69 ; mentioned,
218-19.

Indiana State Fairgrounds, in 1859-
61, pp. 238-39; appropriated
for army camp, 240; restored,
3/6.

Indiana State Journal, on effect of
Madison and Indianapolis Rail-
road on Indianapolis, 40, 41-44;
on Union Station, 101. See
also Brown, Austin H.

Indiana State Sentinel, account of
accident on Madison and In-
dianapolis Railroad, 11 1; ac-
count of railroad party to
Madison, 50-51 ; Cincinnatian's
description of Indianapolis, 88-
89 ; letters for and against tax
levy to complete Madison and
Indianapolis Railroad, 22-24 ;
on celebration of completion of
Peru and Indianapolis Railroad
to Noblesville, 80-81 ; on effect
of Madison and Indianapolis
Railroad on business, 40; on
mail service, 15-16; on Na-
tional Road, 13-14; on Union
Station, 100-1 ; on rivalry be-
tween Indianapolis and Madi-
son, 49 ; on Terre Haute and
Richmond Railroad, 78-79, 79-
80; urges support of Madison
and Indianapolis Railroad, 19-
20. See also Chapman, Jacob
Page.

Indiana Statesman (Indianapolis),
89-90.

Indiana Yearly Meeting, accounts
of elementary schools in, 159-
67 ; accounts of secondary

schools and colleges in, 191-97;
Minutes, show effort to keep
standard of public schools high,
212; organized, 128; reports:
on curriculum in schools,
142; on education, 129-32;
on secondary schools, 175-76;
stresses need for Friends' sec-
ondary schools, 216-17; urges
Friends to support public
school system, 213-14.
Indianapolis (Ind.), celebrates com-
pletion of Madison and Indian-
apolis Railroad, 36-40; City
Hospital: addition to, 309-10;
appropriated for army, 246-
47 ; used for Confederate
prisoners, 309-10, 324, 326,
332;
Confederate prisoners in : atti-
tude of citizens toward, 254,
256-58, 261, 306, 308-9, 3^5,
317; lack of care of first,
253 ; quarters for officers
among, 258-59:
described by Cincinnatian, 88-
89; effect of railroads on, 33-
35, 40-41, 88-89; Friends' semi-
nary, 206-7 ; in the 1850's, p.
23J ; railroad time card, 84 ;
"Railroad City," 81, 87, 103-4;
rapid growth, 6511 ; rivalry
with Madison, 19-20, 49, 89-90,
92-93, 95-99 ; Union Station,
99-103 ; Union Track Railway,
99-100, 102-3, 105-6 ; "village
at the end of the road," 92, 95 ;
wealth of, in 1851, pp. 93n-94n ;
Washington Hall hotel, 58n.
See also Madison and Indian-
apolis Railroad.
Indianapolis and Bellefontaine Rail-
road, completed, 85 ; descrip-
tion of opening to Anderson,
62-64; description of opening

396

INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

to Pendleton, 61-62; joins in
forming union track and Union
Station, 99; financing of, 57-
58, 59-60; praised by Clement
E. Babb, 86-87; schedule, 6on-
6in, 81.

Indianapolis and Cincinnati Rail-
road, 76-77, 102.

Indianapolis and Peru Railroad, 81.

Indianapolis Morning Journal,
ioin.

Invalid Corps, see Veteran Reserve
Corps.

Jackson, William N., general ticket
agent at Union Station, ioin;
secretary, Madison and Indian-
apolis Railroad Company, 28.

Jameson, Dr. Patrick H., physician
at Camp Morton, 246, 305, 312,
316.

Jay, Allen, activities in Quaker
education, 150; on Earlham
College, 209 ; raises funds for
Fairmount Academy, 193 ;
teacher, Mississinewa Friends'
school, 167.

Jay, Eli, on Friends' school, 128;
mentioned, 150.

Jef fersonville, Madison and Indian-
apolis Railroad, 86. See also
Jef fersonville Railroad; Madi-
son and Indianapolis Railroad.

Jeffersonville Railroad, competes
with Madison and Indianapolis
Railroad, 73, 90; completed, 84,
85 ; consolidates with Madison
and Indianapolis Railroad, 86;
financing of, 69 ; in Civil War,
85n-86n; purchases Shelbyville
Lateral Railroad and leases
Shelbyville and Knightstown
Railroad, 70, 71, 72.

Jericho Friends' school (Randolph
Co.), 166.

Johnson, Andrew, military gover-
nor of Tennessee, 295.

Johnson, John, 23-24.

Johnson, Thomas, 238n.

Johnson, Dr. W. A., heads medical
corps at Camp Morton, 331,
342.

Johnson's Island (Ohio.), Civil
War prison camp, 253, 254-55.

Jones, Casey, 112.

Jones, Edward, 150.

Jones, Isaac, 184.

Jones, Rufus, on hardships of
Quaker pioneers, 133 ; on mid-
week meeting, 152; on pioneer
Quaker schools, 159; on
Quaker education, 221, 222.

Joseph Moore Museum, Earlham
College, 208-9.

Junction Railroad, 77-78.

Keatting,

272.

Kentuckians, seek to visit prisoners
in Camp Morton, 269.

Kidd, Capt. Meredith H., regiment
guards Camp Morton, 261-62,
280; mentioned, 276.

Kimmel Law, 192, 214-15.

Kinney, Belle, designs bust of Col.
Owen, 285.

Kipp, Surgeon Charles J., heads
medical corps at Camp Morton,
342, 354, 356, 358, 368.

Kitchen, Dr. John M., in charge of
City Hospital, Indianapolis,
307, 310; physician at Camp
Morton training camp, 246.

Knights of the Golden Circle, 317-
18. See also Sons of Liberty.

Knightstown and Shelbyville Rail-
road, 52-53-

Knott, William, 167.

Knox, L. Gilbert, 286.

Ladies Patriotic Association, In-
dianapolis, 245-46, 269.

INDEX

397

Lafayette and Indianapolis Rail-
road, construction, 8o, io_> :
enters union track and Union
Station, 103.

Lamong, see Union Grove.

Lanier, James F. D., agent, Madi-
son and Indianapolis Railroad,
30.

Lawrenceburgh and Upper Missis-
sippi Railroad, 7711.

Lazelle, Capt., H. M., 297.

"The Lazy Boy," 145.

Lee, Gen. Robert E., 372.

Lefevbre, Louis, 367.

Letcher, John, governor of Vir-
ginia, 293.

Lewisville (Ind.), high school com-
bined with Richsquare Acad-
emy, 193.

Lick Creek Monthly Meeting,
school, 167; set up, 126.

Lickbranch Friends' school (Mar-
ion Co.), 169.

Lincoln, Abraham, President of
United States, call for volun-
teers, 239 ; note in behalf of
Capt. Castleman, 365 ; men-
tioned, 286.

Locomotive, for Madison and In-
dianapolis Railroad, descrip-
tion, 107-8.

Lodge, John, conductor on Madison
and Indianapolis Railroad, 31-
32.

Logan, Gen. John A., 367.

Logansport (Ind.), 44m

Louisiana, prisoners at Camp Mor-
ton from, seek release, 366-68.

Louisville (Ky.), rivalry with Cin-
cinnati and Madison for trade,
65, 66, 68, 70, 74.

Louisville Courier, 70.

Louisville Democrat, 74.

Louisville Journal, 269.

Love, Gen. John, 286.

Lupton, William C, post quarter-
master, Camp Morton, 286,
292.

Lynn Friends' school (Howard
Co.), 171.

Lynn Friends' school (Randolph
Co.), 167.

McCarty, Nicholas, 26, 27n, 35-36.

McCray, Warren T., governor of
Indiana, 218, 219.

Mail, service to Indianapolis, criti-
cized, 15-16.

Madison (Ind.), builds Columbus
and Shelbyville Railroad, 71-
72 ; described by D. R. B. Ne-
vin, 98-99 ; interest in Colum-
bus and Bloomington Railroad,
74-76 ; opposes railroad connec-
tion between Indianapolis and
Cincinnati, 76-77 ; railroad
boom, 82; rivalry with Indian-
apolis, 19-20, 49, 89-90, 92-93,
95-98; rivals Cincinnati and
Louisville for Indiana trade,
65, 66, 67, 69-70.

Madison and Indianapolis Rail-
road, accidents, 31-33, 46, 47-
48 ; barbecue, 28n-29n ; busi-
ness increased by repeal of
British Corn Laws, 30-31 ;
carries exhibits to Cincinnati
Agricultural Fair, 82-83 ; cele-
bration of completion, 36-40;
completed almost to Columbus,
16, 18, 25 ; consolidated with
Jeffersonville line, 86; cost of
fencing, non-un; cost of
operation, 47-48 ; criticisms
and defenses of, 46-49, 54-56;
effect on Indianapolis, 17, 33-
36, 40-44; feeder lines, 51-53,
53-54, 72, 73, 82 ; financing of,
17-18, 18-19, 22-25, 26, 28, 29,
30; improvements and addi-

398

INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

tions, 107-9 ; Indianapolis de-
pot, 26-27, 34, 35-36, 46, 48-49.
81 ; joins in forming union
tracks and Union Station, 99 ;
list showing passengers and
freight carried by, 28; ma-
terials used in construction,
104-5 ; monopoly, 56-57, 69, 73,
82, 84-85 ; political aspects, 24-
25, 49n-5on; profits, 56; rates,
37, 40; schedule, 48n, 81, 92;
Sentinel urges completion of,
19-22; speed, 17, 28-29; wages
paid by, 19.

Madison Banner, 49.

Madison Courier, on criticism and
defense of Madison and In-
dianapolis Railroad, 54-56; on
transportation of railroad parts
from Philadelphia to Madison,
5in-52n; pleads that Madison
not buy Shelbyville Lateral
Railroad, 71 ; urges cessation
of spirit of rivalry among In-
diana towns, 90-91. See also
Garber, Michael.

Mahan, Col. John R., 302.

Mansfield, Col. John L., 286.

Mansur, Isaiah, commissary gen-
eral at Camp Morton, 247-49.

Map showing railroads in Indiana,

63.

Marion County Jail, 267-68.

Meigs, Montgomery C, quarter-
master general, 251, 255, 261,
325, 336.

Mendenhall, William, 206-7.

Merrill, Samuel, president, Madi-
son and Indianapolis Railroad,
37, 46-49.

Miami Monthly Meeting, set up,
124-25.

Michigan Road, 13, 44n-45n.

Midweek meeting, Society of
Friends, 151 -54-

Mil ford Monthly Meeting, 160.

Mill Creek Friends' school (Hend-
ricks Co.), 170.

Mills, Joseph John, on importance
of Friends maintaining own
schools, 212; principal, Sand
Creek Friends' Seminary, 204 ;
mentioned, 150.

Mississinewa Academy, 176.

Mississinewa Friends' school (Ran-
dolph Co.), 167.

Mitchell, Andrew F., 198.

Moffitt, William, 179-80.

Montgomery, Major Alexander,
250.

Monthly Meeting Committee on
Education, Society of Friends,

135.

Moon, Joseph, 150.

Moore, Joseph, Museum, 208-9.

Moore, Capt. L. L., commissary at
Camp Morton, 316.

Mooresville (Ind.), High School,
205.

Moreau, Capt. Will C, 245.

Morgan, Brig. Gen. G. W., 282.

Morgan, Gen. John, raids into In-
diana, 282, 321-22.

Morgan, William B., 150.

Morris, Austin W., 35n.

Morris, Col. Thomas A., engineer
for construction of Union Sta-
tion, 100; on cost of union
track, 105-6; on method of
railroad construction, 106-7.

Morton, Oliver Perry, governor of
Indiana, appoints Rose com-
mandant at Camp Morton,
286; efforts to keep Indiana's
paroled prisoners in state, 301-
2; efforts to prevent prisoners
being sent to Camp Morton,
287-88; orders for Camp Mor-
ton, 262, 269, 312; promise to
send 10,000 volunteers, 239;

INDEX

399

promise to care for 3000 pris-
oners, 253 ; takes Indiana
legislature on tour of Camp
Morton, 368-69 ; threatened
with assassination, 362 ; men-
tioned, 272, 278, 281, 317, 318,

323-

Morton, Mrs. Oliver Perry, presi-
dent, Ladies Patriotic Associa-
tion, 245 ; mentioned, 254.

Morton Place, 376.

Mulford, Col. John E., 370.

Mullen, Col. Bernard F., 262m

Munford, Lt. William E., 365, 371.

Murfreesboro (Tenn.), 315.

Murray, Lindley, quotation from
Introduction to Sequel to The
English Reader, 145-46.

Myers Battery, 321.

National Road, 13-15.

Nettle Creek Friends' school

(Wayne Co.), 161.
Nevin, D. R. B., editor, New

Castle Democratic Banner, 98-

99-

New Albany (Ind.), 90.

New Castle Democratic Banner,
98-99.

New Garden Monthly Meeting, set
up, 126; school, 194.

New Garden Quarter, Indiana
Yearly Meeting, 194, 195.

New London Quarter (formerly
Honey Creek Quarter), West-
ern Yearly Meeting, 171, 203-
4-

New Salem Monthly Meeting, 171.

New York (N. Y.), routes to,
from Indiana towns, 67-68.

New York and Erie Railroad, 45.

New York Globe, 29.

Newlin, Thomas, principal. Spice-
land Academy, 183-84; men-
tioned, 150.

Newport (now Fountain City,
Ind.), Friends' schools, 194.

Newspapers, free transportation on
railroads, 83-84 ; in Indiana,
1845-55, PP- 7-8. See also
names of newspapers and edi-
tors.

Nicholson, Timothy, 150.

Nicklen, Col. Ben. S., 262.

Noble, Lazarus, adjutant general
of Indiana, 261, 262, 269-70,
271, 281, 305, 306, 312, 367.

Northern Quarterly Meeting (now
Fairmount), 192.

Nunemacher, J. R., 111-12.

Ohio and Indianapolis Railroad,
see Jeffersonville Railroad.

Ohio and Mississippi Railroad
Company (Baltimore and
Ohio), 82.

Ottenger, J., letter on stagecoach
service between St. Louis and
Wheeling, 14-15.

Overman, Eli, 166.

Owen, Col. Richard, commandant
at Camp Morton, appointment,
262 ; treatment of prisoners,
262, 263, 265, 272, 274 ; rules
for Camp Morton, 263-65 ; use
of prisoners' fund, 267-68 ; ad-
ministration criticized and de-
fended, 274-75 ; examines peti-
tions from prisoners, 280-82 ;
on desire of some prisoners to
take oath of allegiance, 294 ;
orders record of prisoners dy-
ing at Camp Morton, 312 ;
prisoners' petition for, 283-84 ;
ordered South with regiment,
283-84 ; memorial to, 284-85 ;
mentioned, 306.

Packing business, effect of Madi-
son and Indianapolis Railroad

on, 53, 54, 55-

400

INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Palmer, Lt. John J., post quarter-
master, Camp Morton, 268.

Palmer, John J., trustee, Madison
and Indianapolis Railroad, 30.

Palmer, Nathan B., president,
Madison and Indianapolis
Railroad, 21.

Parker, Benjamin S., on Quaker
schools, 221.

Parker, Thomas, 166.

Paroled prisoners, see Civil War,
prisoners ; Camp Morton, par-
olee camp.

Peddle, Charles, engineer, 52.

Pendleton (Ind.), Indianapolis and
Bellefontaine Railroad reaches,
60-62.

Peru and Indianapolis Railroad,
reaches Noblesville, 80-81 ;
joins union track and Union
Station, 99, 103.

Pinkham, Gilbert, 168.

Pinkham, William, principal, New-
London Quarterly Meeting
school, 204

Plainfield (Ind.), Friends' school,
169.

Plainfield Quarter, Western Year-
ly Meeting, account of elemen-
tary schools in, 169. See also
Central Academy.

Pleasant Hill Monthly Meeting,
school, 171.

Pleasant View Friends' school
(Rush Co.), 164-65.

Pogue's Run, center of railroad
activity, 103-4 > improvement
of, 26, 33-34, 35, 142; men-
tioned, 237.

Poole, Joseph, 168.

Pope, Gen. John, 293.

Poplar Ridge Seminary (Hamil-
ton Co.), 184, 203.

Post office, set up at Camp Mor-
ton, 244.

''Potomac" (State Ditch), 238,
325, 330, 342.

Prices, effect of railroad on, 40-
41 ; of railroad equipment, 104-
6 ; railroad rates, 37, 84 ; rail-
road stocks and bonds, 87-88 ;
rations during Civil War, 260-
61.

Prisoners of war, see names of
prison camps ; Civil War, pris-
oners.

Puckett, Benjamin, 168.

Quakers, see Society of Friends.
Quarterly Meeting Committee on

Education, Society of Friends,

138-39.

Railroads, accidents, 31-33, 46, 47-
48, 110-11; construction and
equipment : Col. T. A. Morris
on, 106-7 ; new types of,
107-10; increased weight of,
iio-ii ;
fuel for, 1 10 ; Indiana : aban-
doned, 86; completed or
under construction, Nov. 12,
j 850, pp. 64-65 ; map show-
ing, 63 ; rapid extension of,
37, 84; rivalry among towns
caused by, 58-59, 65 f f . ;
Indianapolis : northern and
eastern routes out of, urged,
45 ; schedule for, 81 ; union
track and Union Station, 99-
103:
organization and financing of :
methods, 157; stocks and
bonds, prices, 87-88;
speed, 52n, 62n, 84, 87, no,
111-12; tribute to engineers,
io7n; warning against over-
building of, 65. See also
names of individual roads.
Randle, Robert, on midweek meet-
ing, 152-53-

INDEX

401

Rations, see Camp Morton, prison
camp, food; training camp,
rations.

Ratliff, Amos, 169.

Ray, James Brown, governor of
Indiana, advocates railroads,
I02n.

Raysville (Ind.), Friends' school,
162-63.

Readers, used in Quaker schools,
144-46.

Reagan, Chester L., 218.

Reagan, Rev. John, on Spicewood
High School, 205-6.

Reagan, Thomas, 162.

Reame, Dr. , 310.

Reserve Monthly Meeting. 171.

Reynolds, Col. Joseph J., com-
mandant, Camp Morton train-
ing camp, 240.

Richland Academy (Carmel, Ind.),
200.

Richmond (Ind.), see Terre Haute
and Richmond Railroad.

Richsquare Academy (Henry Co.),
176, 193.

Riverside Friends' school (Han-
cock Co.), 165.

Roads, see Michigan Road, Na-
tional Road, Railroads, Trans-
portation.

Roberts, Dwight, sutler at Camp
Morton, 358.

Robinson, Edward J., 323.

Rose, Chauncey, president, Terre
Haute and Richmond Rail-
road, 82.

Rose, Col. David Garland, com-
mandant at Camp Morton, ap-
pointment, 286 ; contrast of ad-
ministration with Owen's, 288;
precaution against prisoner up-
rising, 295.

Rush, Louisa, donates land for
Fairmount Academy, 193.

Rush, Nixon, donates land for
Fairmount Academy, 193.

Rush Creek School (Parke Co.),
204.

Rushville (Ind.), linked with
Madison and Indianapolis Rail-
road, 52.

Rushville and Lawrenceburgh Rail-
road, 77n.

Rushville Whig, 52.

Sackett, Robert L., 150.

Salem and Indianapolis Railroad,

74-

Salem Friends' school (Union
Co.), 164.

Sand Creek Friends' school (Bar-
tholomew Co.), 167.

Sand Creek Friends' Seminary
(Bartholomew Co.), 204.

Sanders, James, principal, Rich-
land Academy, 200.

Sanitary Commission, 254, 269.

Schools, see Society of Friends :
education, elementary schools,
seminaries and academies ;
names of Friends' schools.

Shelby ville (Ind.), connected by
rail with Columbus, 71-72, 7211-
73n.

Shelbyville and Knightstown Rail-
road, abandoned, 86 ; leased by
Jeffersonville Railroad, 70.

Shelbyville Lateral Railroad, con-
struction, 51 ; Madison Courier
argues against purchase of, by
Madison, 71 ; purchased by
Jeffersonville Railroad Com-
pany, 70, 71, 72; abandoned.
86.

Sherburne, , engineer, Madi-
son and Indianapolis Railroad,

53-
Sherman, William Tecumseh, 85n-
86n, 255, 367.

402

INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Silver Creek Monthly Meeting,

126.
Smith, Mary Emily, 165-66.
Smith, Oliver H., president, In-
dianapolis and Bellefontaine
Railroad, 6on-6in, 62; urges
Indianapolis to become rail-
road center, 58-60 ; mentioned,
15.
Smith, William M., leases Union

High School property, 200.
Society of Friends, education : em-
phasis on, 123-24; "guard-
ed," 124, 221 ; influence on
and contributions to public
schools, 210, 212-14, 220, 221-
23 ; Monthly and Quarterly
Meeting committees on, 136-
37; policy outlined, 29-31;
public funds for, 211 -12;
elementary schools : accounts
of, 159-/3; beginnings in In-
diana, 127-29, 134-35 ;
changes in, 151 ; curriculum,
141-42; discipline, 147-48;
enrollment, 151 ; faculty,
141, 143, 146-47, 148, 149-
51 ; financing of, 135, 137-38,
211-12; length of term, 136;
"loud," 143 ; moral and re-
ligious instruction, 133-34,
151-55; recreation, 155-56;
rules governing typical, 156-
58 ; success, 210 ; textbooks,
143-46 ; three types in In-
diana, 135-36; translation
into public schools, 212; see
also names of individual
schools ;
founding, 123 ; movement into
Indiana, 124-27 ; scruples
against bearing arms, i3on;
seminaries and academies : ac-
counts of, in Indiana, 191-
209; beginnings, 174-75, *77 ",

boardinghouses, 179; build-
ings, stages of transition,
178-79; curriculum, 185-89;
decline, 213-20; extracurric-
ular activities, 189-90; facul-
ties and salaries, 183, 184;
normal courses, 189 ; number
of, 177-78; peak of educa-
tional program, 190, 213 ; re-
ligious instruction, 180-81 ;
report of Indiana Yearly
Meeting Committee on, 175-
76; student body, 179; typi-
cal rules and discipline, 181-
84; see also names of indi-
vidual seminaries and acad-
emies.
See also names of monthly
meetings ; Indiana Yearly
Meeting ; Western Yearly
Meeting.
Sons of Liberty, 351-52, 361-63.
See also Knights of the Gold-
en Circle.
South Wabash Academy (Wabash,
Ind.), account of, 194-95 ; men-
tioned, 179-80.
Spiceland Academy, account of,
191-92; closes, 218-19; courses
of study, 187-88; efforts to
maintain, 215-16, 217-18; nor-
mal course, 189; strictness,
183; mentioned, 176, 178.
Spiceland Quarter, Indiana Yearly
Meeting, accounts of elemen-
tary schools in, 161-63.
Spicewood High School (Hamil-
ton Co.), 178, 205-6.
Sprague, , engineer, Colum-
bus and Bloomington Railroad,

75-
Spring Friends' school (Marion

Co.), 170.
Springfield Monthly Meeting, set

up, 126; school, 160.

INDEX

403

Stagecoach transportation, 13, 14,
I4n-i5n.

Stanley, Irwin, 150.

Stanton, Edwin M., Secretary of
War, threatens retaliation,
335; mentioned, 269, 282, 292,

319, 348.

State Ditch, 238. See also "Po-
tomac."

Stephens, , superintendent.

Union Board, ioin.

Stevens, Col. Ambrose A., com-
mandant at Camp Morton,
efforts: to expand quarters
and hospitals at Camp Mor-
ton, 355-58; to prevent
escapes, 344, 348; to prevent
suffering from cold weather,
339-40 ;
explanation of shooting of
prisoner, 345 ; fears uprising
at camp, 351-52; first report
to Hoffman, 334; improve-
ments at Camp Morton, 342;
weakness of administration,
333-34, 343; mentioned, 328,
333, 349, 363, 368, 370.

Stevens, Moses C, principal, Farm-
ers' Institute, 202-3 ; men-
tioned, 150.

Stone, Asahel, commissary at
Camp Morton, 249, 260, 261.

Streight, Col. A. D., 242.

Stringfellow, Rev. Horace, rector,
Christ Church, 306.

Sugar Grove Friends' schools
(Hendricks Co.), 170.

Sugar Plain Academy (Boone
Co.), 206.

Sugar Plain Monthly Meeting,
172, 206.

Sugar River Friends' school
(Boone Co.), 171.

Sugar River Monthly Meeting,
schools, 171-72.

Sulphur Spring Friends' school
(Morgan Co.), 167.

Surgeons, not held as prisoners
during Civil War, 260.

Sutlers, see Camp Morton, prison
camp, sutlers ; Civil War, sut-
lers.

Tallack, William, 208.
Tennessee, prisoners from, desire
to take oath of allegiance, 294-
95, 296, 319.
Terre Haute (Tnd.), 79.
Terre Haute and Richmond Rail-
road, chartered, 78 ; joins in
union tracks and Union Sta-
tion, 99 ; schedule and rates,
84.

Terre Haute Express, 93-94.

Terrell, W. H. H., editor, Colum-
bus Gazette, on celebration of
completion of Madison and In-
dianapolis Railroad, 38-40.

Test, Erastus, 150.

Test, Ralph, 218.

Test, Zaccheus, 150.

Textbooks, used in Quaker schools,
143-46.

Thomas, Harvey, teacher, Center
Friends' school, 171 ; principal,
Western Agricultural School,
197 ; principal, Sugar Plain
Academy, 206.

Thomas, Lorenzo, United States
Adjutant General, 296.

Thompson, William, 168.

Thorntown Friends' school (Boone
Co.), 172.

Thorntown Quarter (formerly
Concord), Western Yearly
Meeting, schools in, 171-72.

Tilford, Dr. J. H, 309.

Transportation, canals, 16, 66, 79,
102 ; changes in, 84-85, 85n ;
failure to win appropriations

404

INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

for, 14, 15; of mails, 15-16;
of merchandise and agricul-
tural products, 16-17; of rail-
road parts from Philadelphia
to Madison, 5in-52n; roads:
poor condition, 13-15, 18; vs.
railroads, 44n-45n ;
stagecoach, 13, 14, I4n-I5n.
See also Railroads.

Treakle, Horatio, 167.

Tripler, Surgeon Charles J., 354.

Trueblood, Banjamin F., on educa-
tion, 222 ; teacher, New Gar-
den School, 194; mentioned,
150.

Tuke, Henry, 123.

Twiggs, Gen. David E., 251.

Union Grove (later Lamong)
Friends' school (Hamilton
Co.), 172.

Union High School (Hamilton
Co.), 184, 198-200.

Union Quarter, Western Yearly
Meeting, 172, 198-200.

Union Schoolhouse, Fairfield
Quarter Friends' school, 169.

Union Station, see Indianapolis
(Ind.), Union Station.

Union Track Railway, sec Indian-
apolis (Ind.), Union Track
Railway.

Vajen, Charles D., 273.

Vallandigham, Clement Laird, 255.

Valley Mills, see Beech Grove.

Van Buren, Martin, 14.

Vance, , engineer, Indian-
apolis and Bellefontaine Rail-
road, 62.

Vanhorn, , conductor, In-
dianapolis and Bellefontaine
Railroad, 64.

Vermillion Academy, Vermillion
Quarter, 172.

Veteran Reserve Corps, guards

Camp Morton, 333, 334, 373.
Vicksburg (Miss.), 315, 321.

Wabash (Ind.), see South Wabash
Academy.

Wabash and Erie Canal, effect on
business, 16; reaches Evans-
ville, 102 ; mentioned, 66.

Wabash Quarterly Meeting, 197;
school, 163.

Wages, employees of Madison and
Indianapolis Railroad, 19; fac-
ulty of Friends' schools, 149,
184; medical staff, prisoners'
hospitals, 307, 329.

Wallace, Lew, 239-40, 242.

Walnut Grove school (Boone Co.),
172.

Walnut Ridge Friends' school
(Rush Co.), 164.

Walnut Ridge Quarter, Indiana
Yearly Meeting, accounts of
schools in, 164-65.

Warner, Col. A. J., 365.

Washington Hall, Indianapolis
hotel, 58n.

Weather, at Camp Morton, 336,
338-42, 353-

Weaver and Williams, Indianap-
olis undertakers, 312.

Webster Monthly Meeting (for-
merly Dover), schools, 142-43,

195.
Weir, A. N., assistant surgeon, 316.
Wessells, Gen. Henry W., 358.
West Branch Friends' school, later

Cadiz (Henry Co.), 162.
West Grove Monthly Meeting, set

up, 126; school, 172-73.
West Newton (Ind.), see Easton.
West Union School (Morgan Co.),

205.
Western Agricultural School (later

Bloomingdale Academy), 197.

INDEX

405

Western Grove Friends' school
(Hancock Co.), 165.

Western Manual Labor School
(later Bloomingdale Acad-
emy), 198.

Western Yearly Meeting, accounts
of elementary schools in, 167-
73 ; of secondary schools and
colleges in, 197-207 ; reports :
on curriculum in schools,
142; on secondary education,
176-77 ; on Scripture read-
ing in schools, 155 ;
set up, 132.

Westfield (Ind.), see Union High
School ; Union Quarter.

Wrestfield Quarter, Indiana Yearly
Meeting, schools, 164.

Westland Friends' school (Han-
cock Co.), 165.

Whitcomb, James, governor of In-
diana, 37-38, 40.

White, Josiah, 165.

White Lick Monthly Meeting, 126.
See also Mooresville (Ind.),
High School.

White Lick Quarter, Western
Yearly Meeting, schools: ac-
counts of elementary, 167-68;
rules for governing, 156-58.

White's Manual Labor Institute
(Wabash Co.), 165-66, 207.

Whitehead, , 349.

Whitewater Monthly Meeting, set
up, T25-26 ; schools : accounts
of, 127-28, 161 ; described by
Eli Jay, 128.

Whitewater Quarter, Indiana
Yearly Meeting, accounts of
elementary schools in, 159-61.

Wickersham, William, principal,
Sand Creek Friends' Semi-
nary, 204.

Wilkes, Dr. , 310.

Willcox, Gen. Orlando B., com-
mander, Indiana and Michigan
military district, 318, 319, 320,
323, 326.

Williams, see Weaver and Wil-
liams.

Williams, Edward P., recollections
of Camp Morton parolee camp,
302-3.

Williams, Lt. Col. John S., 262n.

Wilson, Drusilla, 203.

Wilson, James, assistant adjutant
general, 270.

Wilson, Jonathan, 203.

Wilson, Timothy, 150.

Winslow and Perkins, New York
brokers, 30.

Woodburn, John, 70, 71.

Woolman, John, 123.

Wright House, Indianapolis hotel,
92.

Wyeth, John A., report on Camp
Morton prison camp, 347n.

CAMP MORTON 1861-1865

INDIANAPOLIS PRISON CAMP

By
HATTIE LOU WINSLOW

and

JOSEPH R. H. MOORE

INDIANAPOLIS

INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

1940

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